Cruel Beginnings
by KathrynMerteuil1
Summary: A CI prequel. Forget what you saw in Cruel Intentions 2 cuz that was crap. Read this to find out why Sebastian has been obsessing about Kathryn ever since their parent's got married.
1. The Beginning

Author: KathrynMerteuil  
Title: Cruel Beginnings Part 1  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up. No more. No less. The rest are from the movie Cruel Intentions a wonderful movie! Thanks to all the people who made the movie. I'm not stealing these characters nor do I own them. If I did, wouldn't I be shopping with Kathryn or sleeping with Sebastian?   
  
  
Kathryn had just finished getting her nails done. Her mother's fiancé was about to come over with his son. *What fun.* she thought to herself sarcastically. Just then Mai- Lee comes and tells her that her mother, Mr. Valmont, and his son were there. "Show them in, Mai-Lee. They can come in here." She directs in Vietnamese. Mai-Lee does what Kathryn asks and all three come into the room where Kathryn is. She takes a good look at Sebastian. He was quite cute. He would be perfect for a few games. She bet she could anticipate his every move actually.   
Mr. Valmont walks over to the Kathryn's hand and shakes it, "Nice to finally meet you Kathryn. I've heard so many wonderful things about you."  
Kathryn smiles back and replies, "Nice to meet you too."  
Sebastian walked over and after shaking her hand kissed it and smiled at her.  
"The pleasure is all mine I'm sure." He whispers to her.  
Tiffany says, "Great. Now that you have been introduced, Edward and I are  
going to go have lunch. Kathryn, why don't you show Sebastian around the  
house."  
Kathryn tells her mother, "I would love to. You two have a good time. Nice  
to meet you Mr. Valmont." When they leave Kathryn frowns to herself and rolls her eyes. She looks over at Sebastian, "Since you and your father will be moving  
in I better show you around so you can know where to and not to go. There really are only two places you can't go. My bedroom and my bathroom."  
Sebastian replies, "Wouldn't dream of it. Scout's honor." He holds up  
the scout symbol.  
Kathryn asks, "I bet you weren't even a scout."  
"Touché. But it's true. I wasn't one. I hated that type of guys. All they  
could think about were other guys. " Sebastian answers.  
Kathryn doesn't reply. She gets up off the couch and takes off her jacket  
revealing a silk Versace top and her cross.  
Sebastian can't take his eyes of Kathryn. *She's a bitch. But she's so  
beautiful.* "That's a pretty cross."  
Kathryn smirks, "Are you sure that's what you meant?"  
Sebastian thinks to himself, *It's like she can read my mind. Can't wait to get her in bed.* "So are you going to show me which room is to  
be mine?"  
Kathryn leads him to the room right across the hall from hers. "This is  
it." She then starts to walk off.  
"Where are you going?" He asks.  
Kathryn snickers, "Just across the hall. To my room. If you need me I'll be  
there." She walks to her room and leaves the door open knowing he'll  
probably be over there in a second.  
Sebastian strolled into his room and examined it briskly. Tasteful   
furniture. Everything seemed brand new. Except for the furniture and a bed,   
it was empty, and it was boring him already. He turned on his heel and   
headed towards Kathryn's room--he knew she insisted it was uncharted   
territory, but it had a two-faced meaning to it--she was practically inviting   
him to her room. He knocked on the door twice. "Room service," he  
called, the corners of his lips curving up into an innocent smile. Smiles could be   
two-faced as well. Especially innocent ones, at that.  
Kathryn stood with her back facing Sebastian. She wasn't wearing that   
sexy ensemble she had had on earlier. She was wearing a matte silver silk   
robe, and Sebastian highly doubted there was anything under it. He swallowed.  
"Sebastian," Kathryn said, not even attempting to look surprised  
he had showed up against her orders. "You kind of dropped in at a bad time...I  
was just about to take a bath." She grinned at him.  
"Well..." Sebastian approached her slowly, and methodically,  
running his fingertips along the wood furnishings of her antique bureau, and flicking the   
imaginary specks of dust away. "I just wanted to thank you for quite the   
pleasant welcome wagon...I feel at home already..." He continued towards   
her. *Wonder if she's easy* he thought, feeling a smirk creep on his face.  
But he knew better than to think that. Kathryn seemed smart. Catty.   
Bitchy, maybe. But smart. He knew that she probably was pleased by the   
games they were playing--and on the very first day he had arrived. *Jesus*   
Sebastian rolled his eyes. *I wonder how I could possibly live in the same   
house as her and not try anything*. He knew his mother would never approve,   
but to hell with what she thought.  
"No," Kathryn replied abruptly tearing into his thoughts.   
"That isn't what you came here for." Her grin widened. "You came here for  
something else. Don't lie to me. You're about as transparent as tissue paper, and you   
know, tissue paper isn't that thick."  
Sebastian replies," No. It's true that's not why I didn't come here. Of course I didn't have a clue that this was who you were like. From what my father and your mother said you were this perfect angel."  
"Well appearances can be deceiving. "Kathryn replies simply.  
Sebastian tells her, "You can say that again. God, you're beautiful."  
"So I've been told. " She replies. She doesn't move his hand which had made its way to her waist. "You're not so bad looking yourself." She tells him with a flirtatious smile. "It's a good thing our parents are out. I'm sure they wouldn't approve of this kind of thing going on." She then asks, "So are there any hobbies of yours you have?"  
He smiles back, "I'm a photographer."  
"You'll have to photograph me some time." Kathryn says as she walks into her bathroom. Her bubble bath is ready. She drops the robe and gets in before Sebastian comes in.  
*God, this girl is something else* Sebastian thought. He followed   
Kathryn to the bathroom. There was just something about her that intrigued   
him, captivated him, beyond belief. She wasn't like most others girls he had   
pursued. She seemed like she was experienced. Huh. Well. That was a new one. Sebastian smirked. He leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom, and casually crossed one leg over the other.   
"You want me to photograph you?" he asked Kathryn, who looked terribly  
comfortable in the bathtub filled with bubbles. Sebastian could almost see   
through the bubbles her---  
"You heard me the first time," Kathryn replied, interrupting his  
thoughts once again. "Are you asking me this for confirmation?" She splashed  
a bit, sending a spray of bubbles in every which way. She flashed him a devious   
smile.  
Sebastian felt his breath catch.  
"What I'm really trying to say is," he began, "nude  
photographs are one of the best forms of art." He waited to see what kind of witty response   
she'd come up with this time. He was definitely implying something. "I  
have my camera in my suitcase..." he let his voice trail off. There was a silence for a few minutes. Sebastian stared at her, tracing her every feature, hoping she'd give in   
and let him do bad things to her. He grinned at the thought.  
"No," Kathryn answered, shattering the minutes of silence,  
"What you're saying is that *pornography* is the best form of art." She grinned back at  
him, as if to say "gotcha".  
Sebastian had to hand it to her. The girl was good. "That, too..." Sebastian answered. "So are you up for  
it?" No more beating around the bush. He knew they could probably go on and on with their   
flirtatious games for hours.  
Kathryn responds in an innocent tone, "Well I do have a reputation to  
uphold. Can't have those kind of pictures going around. What would people  
think?"  
Sebastian thinks and then answers, "Probably that you have a really good  
body and would want it."  
"Hmm...Well if I was to get that type of photographs done I would have to  
have a professional. Not some amateur. Of course, I bet that taking photographs  
for you is some kind of foreplay." Kathryn tells him looking him straight  
in the eye.  
"Who's to say I'm not a professional? I've taken plenty of pictures. None  
of them published since the public doesn't really approve of the subject  
matter..."He says with a grin.  
"Come here." Kathryn says seductively knowing exactly what she was  
doing. She waited for him to be right next to the Jacuzzi bathtub. She brings  
her face up to his and whispers, "If you're good...." She kisses him in  
between the phrases, "I may just let you..."She looks at the look on  
his face and then continues, "Photograph me..." She pauses before  
giving him the final part. "Fully clothed." She then smiles  
innocently at him.  
Sebastian looked at Kathryn lustfully, and leaned closer, pressing his   
body against hers, completely unaware that his Armani suit was getting soggy   
from the bath water. "You mean, if I behave...?" Sebastian asked, in  
a low voice.  
Her face only inches away from his, she leaned closer as if she's about   
to kiss him, and just as he moved forward to allow their lips to meet, she   
pulled back, in a casual manner, and fluffed her hair up a bit.  
Sebastian tried to suppress his utter disappointment and frustration, but   
it was hard. He was used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it. *But   
right now, I'm not getting diddly shit!* he thought rather bitterly.  
"You know exactly what I mean," Kathryn said suggestively.  
Sebastian stared at her, then leaned in again trying to kiss her.   
Kathryn put his fingertips on his lips. "Uh-uh...down, boy," she  
said, with a grin.  
"And to think you were daddy's perfect little angel," Sebastian  
said to her, shaking his head in mock disbelief.  
"An angel?" Kathryn echoed, snorting in disdain. Then she smiled  
a bit. "Angels believe in fucking after marriage or not at all. I beg to differ."  
"I still think you're an angel," Sebastian murmured, leaning in  
closer once again.  
Kathryn leaned in as well, then pulled back again. Sebastian managed to   
choke down a groan of impatience.  
"I'm a fallen angel, Sebastian...now what do you think about that,  
hmmm?" She grinned at him, then examined her delicate hands. "Damn. I'm getting   
all pruny from sitting in this tub. Hand me a towel, would you?"  
Sebastian nods. "No problem." He gets a towel and gives it to her. He waits for her to step out of the tub lust only in his mind.  
Kathryn asks, "Aren't you going to turn around like a gentleman would?"  
Sebastian slowly turns around and looks for a mirror.  
Kathryn meanwhile steps out and wraps the towel around her. She puts her robe on around the towel and then drops the towel. She taps Sebastian on the shoulder. "You can turn around now. I'm somewhat dressed as you already know." She walks over to her closet and looks for something to wear that is mother approved.  
"Looking for something?" He asks having followed her back into her room.  
"Just something that mummy dearest would approve of." She replies while digging through her closet. She picks out a dangerously short denim skirt and a white tanktop. She shuts the closet door and gets changed into the outfit. She comes out after hanging up the robe and asks, "What do you think?"  
Sebastian tries to imitate her cool manner, having never been one who tried to hard, and commented, "Nice."  
Kathryn feigns hurt, "Just nice?" She walks over and runs her hand down his chest. She looks deep into his eyes. "I know that you and me are going to be very close and probably get along fantastically but if you ever think of trying anything I don't start, you will pay."  
Sebastian pretended to look terrified. "I appreciate you setting rules  
and the do's and don'ts and whatnot," he said, stepping closer to her,  
close enough that with his every word, she felt his breath on her face, "but you   
know what my philosophy is?"  
Kathryn glared at him, but a startlingly devious grin creeped up on her   
face, as if she didn't give a hoot what his philosophy may be. "What's  
that?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.  
"To hell with rules. I fuck rules sideways and spit on them,"  
Sebastian answered. He couldn't wait to see what kind of retort she'd send back to him.  
Kathryn had a hurt puppy-dog look on her face. "My God,  
Sebastian..." she said, feigning astonishment.  
Sebastian smirked.  
"...I feel so...threatened!" she threw at him sarcastically. She  
stepped forward, pushing him away from her, her hand on his chest. "Now listen,   
dear...we play by my rules...or what you want...you'll never get..."  
Sebastian stared at her pretending to be struck dumb. "And how would  
you know what I want?" he shot back, a smile playing on his  
lips.  
Kathryn pushed him against the wall of her bedroom, pressing her body   
against his. "I can see it in your eyes. You know you can't have me. And  
I know it bothers the hell out of you."  
Sebastian comments teasingly, "So I take it you like it rough..." He raises an eyebrow.  
Kathryn replies using Sebastian's tone, "You took it the wrong way. I won't like it anyway with you because...." She lets the silence fill the air for a while. She then licks the side of his cheek and whispers, "I'm too good for you." She walks out of the room leaving Sebastian dumbstruck. She thought to herself, *This is too much fun.* She smiled and walked into the living room where she sprawled herself out over the sofa. Sebastian's father and her mother would be home soon. It had been awhile since she had someone like Sebastian in her life. She then found herself drifting to sleep.   
Sebastian quietly walks in, this time with his camera. He makes sure to turn off the flash as to not wake Kathryn. He takes a few pictures and sits down on a chair. He opens his journal and starts to write about Kathryn.  
Just then her mother and his father walked in. He quickly shut the journal and put it back in his jacket. Luckily for him, he had dried off by now. They see Kathryn asleep and they walk into another room gesturing for Sebastian to follow. "How was lunch?" Sebastian asks them.  
"It was wonderful." Tiffany replies with a smile. "Now your father tells me that he has an important business meeting."  
Sebastian tells Tiffany, "It was nice to meet you Ms. Merteuil and your daughter. Tell Kathryn I said goodbye."  
Tiffany nods. Edward and Sebastian Valmont walk out. Tiffany then walks into the main room. She gently shakes her daughter, "Honey...Wake up." Kathryn stirs a little and then wakes up. She sits up and she looks at her watch. It was time for her to go visit Abigail.  
---------Time------------  
Kathryn arrives home from Abigail's and walks into her room. She picks up the phone and says, "Hello."  
It's Sebastian. He's calling from his apartment. "Hi Kathryn. It's Sebastian. I take it you heard the news about our parents. Seems like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other.  
"Oh, I know. A while back actually. How sweet is that," Kathryn said dryly, "I can  
just picture your father all over my mother. Charming." She smirked. "Anyway,  
when do you move in, my dearest brother?"  
Sebastian felt himself grin. "I knew you wanted me, as much as you  
deny it," he teased her, although there was a certain seriousness in his tone.  
"Don't flatter yourself, Sebastian," Kathryn said, with a smirk.   
"But if we're going to have to live together, I have some ground rules to set."  
Sebastian sighed in exasperation. "Damn, does your list of rules ever   
end?"  
Kathryn was silent for a moment, then she replied bluntly, "No. If you  
have a problem with it..."  
Sebastian figured she was going to apologize for her controlling   
behavior, but then again, he knew that day would come the same day hell froze   
over.  
"...Then deal with it and be the tough-ass you certainly aren't,"  
Kathryn finished her sentence. He could almost see her grinning deviously on the   
other end of the line.  
"Dear God, I think your comment has scarred me for life, woman,"  
Sebastian retorted. "But proceed with your proposition of ground rules, and if I  
agree to them, then--"   
"Like hell that's gonna fly. I don't need anyone to approve of  
anything, never have and never will, do you understand that?" Kathryn interrupted  
him.  
"I--"  
"Remember our deal, Sebastian. You fuck with my authority then you  
don't get to fuck me at all," she said. "You think you can live with  
that..."  
Sebastian felt pure hatred towards Kathryn, but at the same time, he was   
completely head-over-heels for this vicious excuse for a perfect angel. He   
thought for a moment as to what his sharp response should be...  
"I think I can handle anything that you throw at me, "Sebastian says with a cocky grin even though she couldn't see him.  
Kathryn asks, "Is that so?"  
"My father tells me I am to move in as soon as possible. " Sebastian tells her.  
Kathryn translates, "Meaning that he can get his hands on my mother as soon as possible."  
"Guess there most be some thing that makes you Merteuil girls irresistible to men." Sebastian replies teasingly.  
Kathryn smirks, "Must be something that makes all men completely dumb when they talk to women. Oh yeah, that's called hormones."  
"Ouch. That hurt like a fist." Sebastian says feigning hurt.  
"Good." Kathryn replies. If Sebastian had been there he would have seen the smile on her face.  
"I think we should meet to equally split the living quarters,"  
Sebastian said.  
"Oh please. That's a lame-ass excuse to see little old me, isn't  
it?" Kathryn said, feeling a smile curl up on the corner of her lips.  
"Don't flatter yourself, Kathryn," Sebastian teased, using the  
insult she had thrown at him earlier against her. "Well, I just want the claims to a   
nice room with a view. Or we could share a room..." He was half-joking   
about that suggestion.  
Kathryn had to restrain from laughing. "Yeah, couldn't you just see  
our parents jumping all over that idea," she replied. "Actually, I didn't  
have any plans. Any suggestions as to where we should meet?"  
"Well, there is always Starbucks. A non-date type of place. Our parent's wouldn't be too concerned." Sebastian answers.  
Kathryn thinks a while and then says, "That'll be fine. Think you can come pick me up? I'm curious as to what kind of car you have."  
"That wouldn't just be you not having a car?" Sebastian teases.  
Kathryn replies, "I have a car. A black Mazda miata in fact. Not that it matters. As I said, I'm curious about what type you have. It's probably some brand new sports car isn't it?"  
"You'll just have to wait and see." Sebastian tells her. "I'll be over in 15 minutes." He then clicks the phone off and gets into his car to head over there.  
Kathryn hangs up the phone and tells her mom, "Sebastian and I are going to Starbucks. I'll be home later."  
"That's so nice that you and your new step-brother are getting along so well. Have fun sweetie." Tiffany tells her daughter with a smile.  
Kathryn thinks to herself with a smile, *if only she knew how well we were getting along...* She then says, "Bye mom." She goes to her bathroom and brushes her hair. She then fixes her makeup with the excuse that she was going out so she had to look good. She hears the speaker in their apartment announcing Sebastian was there and she walks out and goes downstairs to go outside and sees Sebastian's car. She sees the 1956 Jaguar Roadster and is taken aback. "Wow. Nice car."  
"Isn't it?" Sebastian replied, climbing out of the driver's seat  
and coming around the car to open the passenger door for her. "It's a classic.   
I love that thing to death."  
"Is that so?" Kathryn answered, running her fingertips along the  
smooth black exterior. "It isn't too shabby considering what kind of occupation  
you have." She raised her eyebrows.  
Sebastian smirked and opened the passenger door. "Funny. Your sharp,   
almost bitchy humor is one of the most endearing features about you," he   
joked.  
Kathryn climbed in, returning an ironic smile. "I'm glad you think so,  
Sebastian. That's exactly the kind of image I was aiming for," she  
volleyed back.  
Sebastian climbed back into the driver's seat and started the engine. He   
sped out of the driveway, obviously cruising over the speed limit. He didn't   
seem to care, or notice, as the wind blew against their faces.  
"You must have a lot of speeding tickets," Kathryn remarked,  
slipping on a pair of tortoise-shell Donna Karan shades. "You know, there's something   
called a speed limit."  
Sebastian peered at her from behind his Ray Bans. "Wow. You abide by   
the law? That's a shock," he said.  
"How droll," Kathryn answered, "What I'm saying is I prefer  
to get to places without any delays. And you know, being pulled over by overweight,   
donut-consuming, self-proclaimed authoritative figures wearing polyester isn't   
something I really want to tolerate."  
"I see your point. "Sebastian tells her as he pulls to a stop when they reach Starbucks .He gets out and then opens the door for Kathryn on the other side.  
"I didn't see you as the type to be a gentleman." Kathryn comments.  
Sebastian retorts, "And I didn't see you as the type to be a fallen angel."  
Kathryn frowns and walks toward the door. "So about these living arrangements...."  
Just then Abigail walks up. "So this is that cutie who's moving in with you that you told me about...."  
Kathryn pales. She hadn't expected Abigail to use her words in front of Sebastian. "Abigail, meet my stepbrother Sebastian. Sebastian, this is Abigail."  
Abigail knew by Kathryn's use of her full name instead of Abby meant that Kathryn was pissed. "Pleasure to meet you Sebastian. I look forward to seeing you more often."  
Sebastian extended his hand towards Abigail, amused by all of this. "Hey, is she moving in with us, too?" he joked to Kathryn, since  
Abigail had mentioned seeing him more often.  
Kathryn forced a laugh, then abruptly snapped, "Ha ha--I think  
not."  
Sebastian laughed, apparently finding Kathryn's grouchy behavior funny.  
Abigail wondered what had gotten into Kathryn, but she shook it off and   
focused her full attention on Sebastian. He *was* a cutie. She felt a   
sudden wave of pleasure come over here.   
Kathryn nudges Abigail,"Come on Abby. Let's go inside." All three of them walk in. Kathryn is glaring at Abigail.   
Sebastian notices the tension between the two. *Wonder what's going on.* He thinks to himself. He shrugs it off and says,"We should probably find a table."  
Kathryn walks over to a table with a couch and a chair. She was going to show Abby who rightfully had claims to Sebastian. It wasn't that she wanted Sebastian, it was just that no one stole what was hers.  
Sebastian sits down on the couch and figures one of the two girls would sit by him.  
Kathryn tells Abigail,"Abby, would you go get our orders? I want a tall Mocha frappucino and Sebastian will have...."  
"Plain black coffee." Sebastian replies.  
Abigail nods seeing she had no choice and went to go order. When they had made the order, Abigail returned to see Kathryn on Sebastian's lap holding his hands in hers.  
Abigail nearly drops the cups of coffee she's managed to juggle back   
towards the table. She quickly recovers, wondering why Kathryn is throwing   
herself all over Sebastian. She frowns a bit.  
"You okay, Abby? You look confused," Kathryn said. She smirked.  
*Wonder why she's throwing herself all over me* thought Sebastian *Well,   
of course I am irresistable, so maybe she just gave in*. Although that   
sounded pretty great, it didn't sound like something Kathryn would do.  
"I'm fine," Abigail answered, forcing a smile. "Here."   
She handed Sebastian his black coffee and Kathryn her tall mocha Frappucino.  
"Thank you," Kathryn said curtly.  
Sebastian inhaled the aroma of his coffee. "Mmmm."  
Abigail realized the couch wasn't exactly a three-person seat, so she sat   
down across from Sebastian and Kathryn, feeling like a third wheel. She   
sighed.  
"So Abigail, how long have you known devilish little Kathryn?"  
Sebastian joked.  
Abigail looked genuinely surprised. "'Devilish' Kathryn?" she  
asked.  
Kathryn elbows him. "Sebastian." She scolds. She explains,"I have no idea what he meant by that comment. Care to explain, Sebastian?" She looks him straight in the eyes.  
Taking the hint Sebastian replied,"Nothing. It was a joke. "  
Abigail's somewhat confused. "Oh okay. So when did you two meet? I mean you guys look really close. "  
Sebastian replies,"Actually, we met earlier today. I take it you and Kathryn know each other pretty well. But we've seen each other around school before."  
"Yeah. We've known each other forever. " Abigail replies.   
Sebastian thinks to himself,*I wonder how come Abigail doesn't know so much about Kathryn and I do.*   
Abigail gets up and says,"I'll be right back." She was going to the bathroom and was expecting Kathryn to follow her.  
Kathryn waits until Abigail is out of sight and then she tells Sebastian,"Come on let's go." She walks out of the Starbucks and goes to Sebastian's car with a confused Sebastian following her. "Think of the most secluded spot you can think of and then drive there. We need to be alone to talk and I don't feel like having any of my friends interrupting us. " She looks him in the eyes so he'll know she means it.  
Bewildered, Sebastian starts up his car, not really caring for the   
whereabouts of Abigail. He drives up to a lush green hill overlooking the   
city. "You sure all you wanted to do was talk?" he asked Kathryn   
suggestively, tossing her a flirtatious glance.  
But much to his disappointment, Kathryn was all business. She looked   
rather serious. "So. The living arrangement. You don't come into my room  
unless I invite you, which will be, close to never, since I am not a   
wandering hooker much like one of my friends."  
"'Much like one of your friends'? Am I acquainted with this  
'friend'?" Sebastian inquired, with a smirk. He wondered if she could possibly be   
referring to Abigail. If that was the case, he also wondered how the hell   
those two could be best friends.Anyway, it's not like he cared. Whatever.  
"That's besides the point, Sebastian dear," Kathryn replied, a  
grin appearing on her face. The first one in an hour if he could recall.   
"Ground rules are, when Mother dearest and Father dearest are around, no horseplay,   
we are strictly siblings."  
"Yeah wouldn't want 'em thinking we were incest," Sebastian joked.  
Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Childish."  
"Speaking of which," Sebastian said, "Your friend is pretty  
hot." He was sort of playing with Kathryn's head, curious as to what her response would   
be. He wanted to see if Abigail was the "wandering hooker" friend.  
"Abigail? That reminds me. I have another rule..."Kathryn starts.  
Sebastian interrupts,"Another? You might as well write them all down I won't remember."  
Kathryn rolls her eyes and continues," You stay away from my friends and I stay away from yours, presuming you have any."  
Sebastian feigns hurt,"I guess that means I won't be able to show off my new stepsister to them?"  
"That's exactly what it means. It has to be that way." Kathryn says. "Oh I hope you didn't think that whole thing in Starbucks was for real. Because it was just to piss Abigail off."  
Sebastian laughs and teases,"And hear I thought you actually cared about me."  
"Oh, I wouldn't call my feelings for you caring. Or loving for that matter. It can be summed up in only one word: lust." Kathryn smiles.  
Sebastian felt himself grin. Kathryn definitely was a challenge for him. "So, since we have concluded our little chit-chat, what shall we do now?   
If I recall, your wandering hooker friend we left sitting on the porcelain   
throne is probably waiting for us."  
Kathryn peers at him from behind her sunglasses, trying to think of some   
excuse not to encounter Abigail again. "I don't care. The girl can hitch  
a cab. Or get hitched, if you catch my drift." She smirked at her own pun.  
"Dear God, you're just the best friend ever bestowed upon that  
girl," Sebastian remarked, with a grin.  
"Well, she's done some pretty shitty things to me and I really don't consider anyone my best friend. The sad thing is, you're the closet to a friend that I've actually had."Kathryn admits, glad she had her sunglasses on so he wouldn't see her reaction.  
Sebastian senses the honesty of her statement but doesn't comment on it. "Well, since we don't have to get back for a while is there anything you want to do?" he asks with a mischievous look in his eyes.  
Kathryn lets her lips curve into a teasing smile. "Only one thing I can think of."She takes off her sunglasses and puts them in her purse. She takes off her seatbelt which she had been wearing since she didn't trust Sebastian's driving and got out of her seat and placed herself on Sebastian's lap for the second time that day. She started to kiss him passionately on the lips knowing what it would do to him.   
Sebastian not minding one bit, even though he knew it was part of her game, joined in and kissed her back.  
They made out for a while and then Kathryn as quickly as she had started, finished and got off his lap. She went back into her seat, put her sunglasses on, and opened up her purse. She took out her silver compact of powder and made sure that none of her makeup was out of place. She also took out a tube of lipstick and reapplied the color. She put her makeup away and tells Sebastian,"Alright. We can go home now."  
Sebastian tried to hide his disappointment as their little makeout session ended. Trying to mask any emotion, he replied in a steady voice, "Yes, ma'am." He threw a grin at her, and started up the engine. Within seconds--almost--they were speeding down the highway, Sebastian going at least over 80 miles per hour.   
Kathryn's face began to sting from the pressure of the wind whipping against her face. "Goddamn it, Sebastian, what's your hurry?" she finally blurted, not really wanting to take any more of this harsh wind. "You drive like you're in dire need to take a piss."   
Sebastian tossed his head back and savored the taste of the air. "C'mon, I expected more out of you. It isn't any fun abiding by the law, on the highway or off." He tossed another lopsided grin in her direction.   
"God!" Kathryn snorted in disdain. "Okay. Okay. Whatever. But if bits and pieces of my skin begin to peel off, you're paying for my cosmetic surgery, got it, Slick?" She returned his grin.  
Sebastian laughed. "Suuure." He then adds teasingly,"Now a touchup on that plastic surgery right?"  
"Excuse me but there is not one part of me that is fake."Kathryn replies defensively.  
Sebastian has on a devilish grin and asks,"Maybe I should check and make sure you aren't lying."  
"If you want that I'll take a lie-detector test. Plus I would have thought you would have gotten that kind of thing out of your head after back there." Kathryn responds.  
Sebastian shoots back,"Just left me wanting more."  
"Well too bad for you then because you won't be getting anymore."Kathryn informs him in a direct tone of voice. They reach her apartment and she gets out. "Are you coming in or what?"  
"Is that how you invite people into your home?" Sebastian commented. "If so, I can see why you don't have too many visitors," he joked. He got out of his car and followed Kathryn into her apartment.   
"Ha ha, you're so witty, Sebastian," Kathryn responded, rolling her eyes. "I don't just let any dirty little body off the streets into my home." She unlocked the front door and pushed it open to reveal a posh penthouse apartment, with tasteful furniture. "Would you like anything, Sebastian?" Kathryn asked, a sly grin curling up the corners of her lips. She tossed her black leather Gucci handbag onto a cream-colored love seat sitting on a Persian rug.   
"Only you," Sebastian said, with a grin.  
Kathryn smiled, and didn't say anything. She pressed the "play" button on her answering machine, and while it spewed out messages, she poured herself and Sebastian martinis. "Kathryn? Hey. It's Abby," blared a voice from the answering machine, "I'm calling from the Starbucks..." Sebastian laughed loudly.   
"Shut up, I'm trying to listen," Kathryn commanded, in a sweet voice.   
She wanted to hear what Abby had to say. "I don't know why you just blew me off like that, but I think we need to talk. Call me back or something, okay? Thanks. Bye." Bleeeep....   
"I don't know what that incessant whore-of-a-friend wants," Kathryn said rather bitterly. She handed Sebastian his martini.   
"How the hell could you two have been friends in the first place?" Sebastian asked, rather curiously.  
"She was a follower. I was the leader. And when she starts asking questions, or demanding to know things that sure as hell aren't any of her business, it pisses me off," Kathryn replied simply. She sprawled herself down on the loveseat, and looked at Sebastian.   
"And it's not good to piss someone like you off."Sebastian finishes for her.  
"What do you mean someone like me?"Kathryn questions.  
Sebastian replies,"I mean that you could do some damage to the girl."  
Kathryn smiles. "That I could. I'll call her back later. You know, when she gets home from the Starbucks. She's probably asked some cashier guy to take her home." Kathryn then notices Sebastian's journal. "What's that?"  
"My journal." He replies. "Time for me to set up some rules. The first one would be that you never read what's in here. It would be hard to get into it without me noticing so it should be easy for you to follow it.  
"I'll find a way."Kathryn informs him. She snickers to herself. "A journal...Gee, could you be anymore queer? Let me guess, you've kept a written record of all your conquests. An extended form of a little black book."  
Sebastian comments,"Good way of putting it. Could you be anymore desperate to read it?" He lights up a cigarrette.  
Kathryn stops him. "Uh-uh. No way. No smoking in this home. Wouldn't want anything to burn down. However, you can smoke in your room. No one will be in there to check on you or even notice you so it should be fine in there. I bet that I'll always be invited in there...right?"   
"But of course..." Sebastian lets his voice trail off. He grins.   
"Now extinguish that shit if you would," Kathryn replies, snatching the cigarette hastily from between Sebastian's fingers and putting it out. "My mother would throw an absolute fit if the stench of smoke hung in the air."   
Sebastian rolled his eyes, not really caring about whatever dumb rules the Merteuil family had, and downed the rest of his martini. "Well. What now?"   
Just then, the phone rang. Kathryn ignored Sebastian's question and snatched it up, secretly hoping it wasn't Abby again. "Hello..."   
"Kathryn, dearest."   
"Mother. Hello," Kathryn said, and raised her eyebrow at Sebastian.   
"Edward and I just came up with a splendid idea. Since we'll all be living together, we thought it would be best if the children got acquainted with the new parent."   
"Your point being..." Kathryn said, trying to hide her lack of enthusiasm. She knew exactly what her mother's point was, but she didn't exactly jump for joy over the idea.   
"I'll spend the day with Sebastian, get to know him better," Tiffany Merteuil explained, "and you'll spend the day with Edward. Doesn't that sound just lovely?"   
"Fantastic," Kathryn muttered under her breath. She feigned perkiness just for her mother. "I'm so excited, Mother! And when would this little rendevouz with the new parental unit be?"   
"I was thinking tomorrow afternoon, perhaps."   
"Wonderful. I'll inform Sebastian."   
"Alright, dear. I'll talk to you later."   
Kathryn hung up the phone, then turned to Sebastian. "That was mummy dearest."   
Sebastian chuckled. "Oh? And what did she want?"   
"Your father and her have just concocted this wonderful idea where we spend the day with the other parent. In other words, you spend the day with my mother and I spend the day with your father. What were they thinking?"Kathryn asked more of to herself than to Sebastian. She then adds teasingly,"Since we're family-ish now, try and keep your hands off my mother."  
Sebastian grins and replies,"It's not her I'm after. It's you."  
"Well, bully for me. I take even though you are a blonde, you prefer brunnettes?"Kathryn asks with a half-smile.  
Sebastian thinks aloud,"Hmmm....I wonder how you and my father are going to ever agree on something to do. Same with your mother. She seems like all she cares about is shopping and upholding a reputation. None of which seem to bother me."  
"I'm sure you'll think of something, what with you being so clever and all. What could I ever do with your father? I mean he strikes me to be the boring type. Wonder if I could just have lunch with him and then go shopping by myself. I mean, he can't possibly want to get to know me that well." Kathryn ponders. "Any suggestions?"  
"My father is boring," Sebastian replied, "but you're clever, you'll come up with something. I'm not sure I could bond with your mother though."   
Kathryn smirked, and shrugged. "You're on your own there, pal."   
Sebastian paused, and rubbed his temples to appease the sudden headache that was attacking his brain. He leaned back, and rolled his eyes in utter disgust. "Is it me, or do our parents come up with possibly the most stupid-ass ideas?"   
"It's not you," Kathryn answered, with a terrible lack of enthusiasm. She sighed and sat down behind Sebastian and rubbed his temples. "You know, there is more than one way to cure a headache."  
----The Next Day----  
Kathryn wakes up the next morning safe and sound in her bed. She looks at the clock. It's noon. *Oh great. I get to spend this whole day bonding with Sebastian's father.* She gets out of bed and starts to get ready. She takes a bath and then after putting on a robe does her hair and makeup. She looks in her closet. She picks out a long black skirt with Chinese print and a black twin-set shirt. She gets dressed and then walks into the main room where Sebastian is, along with their parents.   
Sebastian is sitting on a chair reading a book. He comments teasingly,"Looks like sleeping beauty is finally up."  
Kathryn laughs just to show her mother she wasn't taking it personally. She asks,"So what's on the itinerary for today?"  
Tiffany replies,"Well Sebastian and I are going to go to the museum of art, then to the Olive Garden where we'll meet you and Mr. Valmont for an early dinner. We'll probably leave at one. Edward, what are you and Kathryn going to be doing?"  
Edward replies,"I was thinking about taking Kathryn to the symphony. Sebastian told me about her appreciation of classical music. Does that sound good to you Kathryn?"  
Kathryn nods and smiles.   
"Good." Edward responds.  
Tiffany looks at the clock. "Oh we better go."   
Sebastian gets up and follows Tiffany outside to her car. She gets into her car and starts to drive to the Museum. "So what's your favorite kind of art?"  
***  
Kathryn says,"I guess we should go too. "  
Edward agrees and walks out to his car. He opens the door for Kathryn and then shuts it behind her.  
She puts her seatbelt on. Kathryn so doesn't want to die in an automobile accident with Mr. Valmont and if he was anything like his son she had to buckle up. She asks,"So what are we going to do after the symphony? I mean I know my mother could look in a museum for a long time and we're meeting for dinner at 5 and I know the symphony doesn't last four hours."  
Edward glances at Kathryn. For some reason, his look gives her chills down her spine, and definitely *not* the good kind that she got when she was around Sebastian. She shook it off. It was probably nothing.   
"Well, we'll think of something after the symphony is over, now won't we?" Edward responds, with a smile. "No point in worrying about that right now."   
Kathryn nods slowly, and forces a smile. "Um...right." She pauses, and puts on her angel act. "Thank you *so* very much for taking me out, Mr. Valmont."   
"Please. It's Edward," Edward replies, "And the pleasure's all mine."   
* * *   
Meanwhile, Sebastian and Tiffany were being chauffered down Times Square in Manhattan in a long, sleek limo. "What kind of art do you appreciate, Sebastian?" Tiffany inquires.   
Sebastian had been picking on the leather upholstery so long, the fabric was beginning to peel off. He quickly snapps back into reality. "Ma'am?" he asks. He absolutely *hated* this being-polite shit. He wondered how Kathryn was handling his father.   
***  
They arrive at the place where the symphony is being held. Kathryn goes and takes her seat, after following Mr. Valmont since he has the tickets.Edward sits down and waits for Kathryn to sit down. The lights dim and the symphony begins to play.Kathryn is ultimately bored. She can't believe that Sebastian told his father that she liked classical music.Edward looks at Kathryn, admiring her beauty. He could see why his son liked her so much. Edward takes her hand in his.Kathryn quickly removes her hand from his grasp and moves her hand. Edward thinks,*Oh well, We'll get a lot closer after the symphony.* Kathryn tries as much as she can to pay attention to the symphony. Soon, it's done. She quickly gets up and walks to the car. Edward follows her and gets in the car as well.   
Kathryn asks,"Now what?"  
***  
Tiffany repeats herself,"I asked what kind of art you appreciated most."  
"Oh, I prefer portraits. I'm a photographer."Sebastian explains. He then adds,"You know, if it's alright with you, I'd like to have permission to photograph your daughter sometime. She's beautiful and could be a model."  
Tiffany smiles and nods. "That would be wonderful. You two really are getting along, aren't you?"  
"Best friends. Like brother and sister."Sebastian replies.  
"That's nice. I'm glad. Oh look we're here."Tiffany comments. They get out and she walks to the entrance of the museum. Sebastian gets out as well.  
They walk into the museum and Sebastian immediately heads to the paintings with people in it, thinking *Who wants to see a bunch of flowers, grass, or animals? People are much more interesting. * Sebastian looks over at one of the people who was also looking at art. It was a girl he knew. Or rather, slept with. Her name was Christine. He quickly looks the other way, hoping Christine wouldn't come over or notice him.  
***  
Edward looks at Kathryn. He gives her that lingering gaze that sent shivers down her spine.   
Kathryn shuddered a bit, and looked away, avoiding any eye contact. *I have to talk to Sebastian about his weird-ass father* she thought, with a slight smirk.   
"I was thinking maybe we could head back to my place, have some coffee or tea, perhaps watch a foreign art film," Edward replied, starting the car up.   
*Jesus! Could this man get any *less* interesting?* Kathryn thought, trying to hide her look of disgust. "Oh, that'd be great, Mr. Val--Edward," she replied as enthusiastically and pleasantly as possible.   
Edward returned her smile. "Excellent."   
* * *   
"Sebastian? Are you all right?" Sebastian had been dodging Christine for a good hour and a half, and hadn't heard a word Tiffany had said to him the whole time.  
He pretended to be intrigued by a Picasso. "Ma'am?"   
"You seem distracted," Tiffany said.   
"Oh I'm terribly sorry, ma'am...art does that to me..it has that impact on me...I'm like in a whole other world," Sebastian lied. "I'm sorry."   
Tiffany looked impressed. "Wow...that's so wonderful, Sebastian. Most young adults your age aren't as interested in art...but I must say, you are quite different...wow."   
Sebastian nodded. "Well--"   
Suddenly, a voice tore through the museum. It was actually a screech. Sebastian recognized the voice almost immediatly. He tried to hide his mortification. "SEBASTIAN VALMONT!" Christine screamed.  
***  
Kathryn and Edward arrive at the Valmont home a little while later and Kathryn walks in after the door is opened. She puts her purse on her lap and sits down on a chair. "So what film did you have in mind?"Kathryn asks out of polite curiousity.  
"Actually there was no film I had in mind. No coffee or tea either. Some wine perhaps. But I mostly wanted to do this..."Edward says as he makes a move to kiss her.  
Kathryn pulls away and says, "Stop. I'm not interested. Besides isn't this what my mother is for?"  
"I like them younger."Edward replies as he roughly grabs her and kisses her. He makes a move for his pants and her skirt. One thing leads to another and we all know what happens next. After what Edward does to Kathryn, Kathryn quickly gets her skirt back on.   
Kathryn asks,"Do you have a bathroom? Edward points to it and Kathryn goes in. She immediately goes to the toilet and throws up. "We should probably go to the restaurant now."  
Edward nods. They walk out and drive to the restaurant waiting for Tiffany and Sebastian to arrive.  
***  
"Why didn't you ever call me?"Christine asks.  
Sebastian looks at his watch and whispers to Tiffany,"We need to go." Tiffany nods. "Christine, I do have your number. I'll call you later. My mother and I want to spend some time together. You understand, right?"  
"I guess so."Christine replies lamely.  
Sebastian comments,"Good." He then walks to the exit with Tiffany and they drive to the restaurant where Kathryn and Edward are waiting.  
Kathryn tells Sebastian and her mother,"I'm not feeling so good, so if one of you could take me home it would be best."  
Sebastian looks to Tiffany and then back to Kathryn,"I could do it. I've driven my father's car plenty of times. This way, you two could have some alone time..."  
Tiffany smiles,"What a wonderful idea. Feel better Kathryn."  
Kathryn walks out with Sebastian, innocently but as soon as they get in the car she hugs him and starts to cry.  
Sebastian asks,"What's wrong?"  
Kathryn sobs hysterically. She manages to recover, and pulls away from Sebastian, wiping her tears. She says, trembling,"Your father..."   
"You uh, you didn't have a good time, I take it?" Sebastian jokes, but then realizes now is definitely not the right time to joke around. Kathryn didn't seem like her usual self at least. He knew something had to be very, very wrong. "Sorry...what about my father?"   
Kathryn pauses, inhaling deeply, then exhaling. "He fucked me."   
Sebastian felt as if someone had just punched him in the gut. He leans back in the seat of his car, stunned. "What?" he manages to choke out, after a long period of silence.   
"Your father fucking raped me!" Kathryn spats out angrily.  
Sebastian starts the car up, all the color drained from his face, his heart pounding against his chest; he could feel the blood pulsating in his ears. He had no idea what to say. He half-expected Kathryn to snap, "Well?! Why don't you say something?!" which is something she normally would've said, but Kathryn was practically glued to the passenger seat, her eyes glazed, her face expressionless. Sebastian looks at her, his face full of concern. "I'm sorry."   
"It's not your fault that your father is a perverted fu--" Kathryn begins, then she inhales sharply, not finishing her sentence. "Sorry."   
"No, no," Sebastian says quickly. "That's okay...God...I have to talk to him about it."   
"NO!" Kathryn practically shrieks. "You can't, Sebastian, you can't. Swear to me you won't."   
Sebastian looks at her. She's so un-Kathryn like right now, it's startling him. "Why? This is serious shit, Kathryn."   
"Because if you do, all he'll do is blame it on me or deny it, I know it."Kathryn replies. She then mutters to herself, not expecting Sebastian to hear it,"What did I do to deserve this?"  
Sebastian heard what she said. "You didn't do anything. It was obviously not your fault.He has to pay."  
"But still..."She trails off. "Can you take me home? As I said earlier, I don't feel good. I mean right after it happened, I threw up and I still don't feel good. You'll stay with me right?"  
Sebastian nods. "Of course. I'm not going to leave you alone. And for sure, never with him." He tries to think of something to help her. She obviously needed help for this kind of thing. Anyone would. "God, how he could even try this. We've known you, what two days."  
Kathryn agrees,"That's what worries me. I mean was it just a one-time thing or what if he wants more? And like what if no one is home?"  
"I'm going to protect you Kathryn. You have to trust me. I'll make sure you're never left alone with him. If that happens, you just have to call me and I'll come right over. Okay?" Sebastian tells her.  
Kathryn nods through her tears."Okay." She rests her head up against Sebastian's shoulder, feeling as if he is the only one she can ever trust. They reach her home. Sebastian gets out and opens the door for Kathryn. He takes her hand in his and walks with her inside. She immediately goes and lays down in Sebastian's room thinking *He'll never think to get me here.* She asks Sebastian,"Will you lay here with me? I don't want to be alone."  
Sebastian nods. This was a side he hadn't ever expected to see of Kathryn. She used to be so strong, full of life, courageous. He lays down next to her and wraps his arms around her. Kathryn snuggles up against him and falls asleep in his arms. Sebastian finds himself drifting to sleep a little while later after Kathryn.  
Just then Tiffany and Edward walk in. They call out,"Hello?" After hearing no response they start to check each room. They walk into Sebastian's room and find Kathryn and Sebastian sleeping together.  
Tiffany is completely taken aback. "Oh my God!" she shrieks.  
Kathryn snaps up immediatly, nearly giving herself whiplash.   
Sebastian does the same.   
"Mother! It's not what you think, I swear," Kathryn insists, but she knows the damage has already been done.   
Edward doesn't say anything, but Tiffany remains seething at the door, the color drained completely from her face. Sebastian merely sputters, for once in his life, at loss for any lame fib or explanation. "I-I--"   
"Shut up!" Tiffany snaps.   
"It's not what you think," Kathryn repeats, her voice quivering at the sight of Edward. She shudders.  
"What do you think it is that I think?" Tiffany demands. Kathryn and Sebastian stare at her blankly. Tiffany inhales, then sharply exhales. "Let me re-phrase...what in the hell are you doing sleeping with my daughter?" she screams at Sebastian, jumping him and smacking him furiously.   
"Tiffany," Edward says, in an abnormally calm manner considering the seriousness of the situation before them. He manages to pull Tiffany off of Sebastian.   
Tiffany ignores Edward' way of trying to calm her down. "You said that you two were close, but this close is just sick." She accuses, easily talking to either one of them.  
Kathryn is about to scream but tries to calmly explain.Her voice, although quiet, is full of anger. "You have no idea what you are dealing with. I didn't feel good and he was just helping me. If we had known how much trouble this would have caused we would have just locked the door. Sebastian and I aren't close in the way you are thinking of. We have this deep bond that we can't explain and he was just trying to help me out. If you can't deal with that, then too bad."  
Sebastian is stunned at what Kathryn said. He didn't know she thought they had a bond. He looks over at Kathryn and then back to Tiffany. "Mrs. Merteuil, I would never, and I mean never, lay a hand on your daughter in the way you are speaking of. I respect her too much to do that."  
"Locking the door?" Tiffany asks still reflecting on Kathryn's statement. "You two are keeping secrets I can tell. That sort of thing won't be permitted in this household. Neither will you two be sleeping in the same bed. Do you understand?"  
Sebastian replies with a glare towards his father,"If we were keeping secrets, there would be a good reason behind it. Isn't that right, father?"  
"What exactly do you mean by that?"Edward asks.  
Sebastian responds,"You know exactly what I mean. If you want a further explanation, ask Kathryn. You are the reason she didn't feel good."  
Edward immediately pales. Tiffany asks,"What the hell are you talking about?" She looks at Sebastian, then to Edward, then to Kathryn, and then again to Sebastian where she rests her glare.  
Kathryn is put on the spot. She doesn't know whether to rat out on Edward. Her mouth begins to dry; it feels like sandpaper. She swallows. *Oh my God...what if Tiffany doesn't believe me...I mean, this is the man she's about to marry* Kathryn thinks, mortified.   
Edward looks at Kathryn, his eyes penetrating her.   
Tiffany is confused now...less angry, more flustered. "What? What's going on? Edward?" Edward looks at Tiffany. He doesn't say anything. Tiffany feels sort of creeped. *Why isn't anyone saying anything?* she wonders.   
"Edward raped her," Sebastian blurts out.  
Tiffany is shocked. She doesn't believe what she heard. "That's not funny. Stop joking around. What is it really?"  
Kathryn says in a whisper, barely audible,"It's true."  
"I don't believe it. At all. Come on Edward, we're leaving." Tiffany says as she storms out of the room with Edward.  
Kathryn starts to cry again, sobbing loudly. "My own mother doesn't believe me. What am I going to do? I mean, she's going to marry him and she doesn't even believe me."  
"Fuck my dad, to hell with him," Sebastian replies.   
Kathryn stares at him, disgusted. "Could you re-phrase your words please?" she snaps rather bitterly.   
"Oh sorry...forget about him. Forget about your mom. I'll be here for you. It'll be just the two of us," Sebastian says. "We don't need them. Hell, I never needed parents, they were just always there." He smirks.   
Kathryn looks at him, grateful although her eyes are cold. "Thank you, Sebastian," she says, almost in a whisper. She hugs him.  
Just then, the phone rings. Sebastian rolls his eyes, and snatches it up. "Hello," he says, in an exasperated tone. "Sebastian?"   
Sebastian recognizes the voice. It's Kathryn's non-pal Abigail. "Yeah."   
"What are you doing at--nevermind...is Kathryn there?"   
Sebastian looks at Kathryn and replies,"Yeah I think so. Hold on let me see if I can find her." He presses the mute button on the phone and asks Kathryn,"Do you want to speak to Abigail?"  
Kathryn frowns. "Not really but then she'll be all whiny next time we talk so I better."  
Sebastian unpresses the mute button and tells Abigail,"Yeah she's here. Hold on." He hands the phone to Kathryn.  
Kathryn takes the phone and says,"Hey."  
"Wow, you're like actually speaking to me. I mean ditching me at Starbucks that was real nice." Abigail comments sarcastically.  
Kathryn rolls her eyes. "What do you want?"  
"What do I want? God, rude much. That's not a way to speak to your best friend." Abigail responds.  
Kathryn states," One, you're not my best friend. Two, get to the fucking point."  
"Oh, who is your best friend then? Sebastian?" Abigail laughs. "What's up your ass today?"  
Kathryn replies in a tone full of malice,"Yeah he is because for one he is a whole lot more caring than you can ever be. Let's just say I had a bad day. And if you mess with me, you'll understand how bad it was."  
Abigail is stunned. She doesn't know what to say to this, but she feels her angriness slowly melting. "Kathryn? Are you ok?" she asks quietly. "I'm sorry..."   
*It's just like Abby to start apologizing like a fucking nitwit* Kathryn thinks. She begins to feel a headache coming on, and doesn't really want to talk to anyone except for Sebastian at the moment. "Look, Abby, I have to go," Kathryn says, practically mumbles. She hangs up without waiting for a response, and viciously yanks the phone cord out of the wall.   
"Woah there horsey," Sebastian exclaims, jumping back a bit as sparks fly from the wall. "I take it the conversation didn't go well?"   
"That would be an understatement."Kathryn replies. "She's just so annoying. I couldn't talk to her." She groans in pain from her headache. "Could you go get me some aspirin or something?"  
Sebastian nods. He walks into the bathroom and gets some out of the medicine cabinet. Kathryn lays back down on Sebastian's bed. She just wanted to sleep forever but knew that she couldn't do that. She got up just as Sebastian was coming back. "Where are you going?"He asks as he hands her two aspirins.  
"To go take a shower."She says in a trancelike tone. She feels really dirty and doesn't know how to feel clean again.She takes the aspirin.  
Sebastian nods again. "Don't drown."He warns jokingly.  
Kathryn lets a half-smile form. "I won't." She walks over to her room and gets into the shower. She just stands in the water, feeling numb.  
Sebastian notices its taking her a long time but doesn't do anything about it. He just sits on his bed thinking. He looks over at the clock and notices Kathryn had been in the shower for over an hour. He walks into her room and doesn't see her in there so he headed into her bathroom where he sees her not moving and bruises all over her. "Oh shit."He comments to himself. He gets a white fluffy towel out for Kathryn. He opens the shower door, turns off the water, and then wraps the towel around Kathryn. He didn't even once pay attention to what she looked like without clothes. Kathryn was still in her trance-like state. He picks her up and carries her to her bed. He gets out a nightgown for her to put on and tells her,"Here. Put this on." He turns his back while she changes. He tucks her into the bed and after kissing her on her forehead says,"Sweet dreams." Kathryn quickly falls asleep. Sebastian walks out of the room when he sees she is asleep and heads off to go look for his father. He had some talking to do with him.  
Sebastian realizes Tiffany must be asleep as well, for the house is eerily quiet. He figures his father must be at home. He willed himself not to get carried away...he willed himself *not* to kill the damn guy... Sebastian headed downstairs and climbs into his vintage Roadster. As he heads for his house, his cell phone rings. "'Ello?" he says, exhausted by this whole crappy day.   
"Sebastian."   
Sebastian feels himself stiffen. "Dad."  
"I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be going out tonight."   
"Where?"  
"Is that any of your business, son? I'm just going to go out...loosen up a little...it's practically one of my last nights as a free single man," Edward says.   
Sebastian feels sick to his stomach. "Listen, Dad, I don't care to know about your erotic after-night sex escapades, alright?" he snaps, irritated. "Frankly, I don't know how you could possibly think of such things after what you inflicted upon Kathryn."   
Edward snorts. "Listen to yourself talk, Sebastian! I didn't do anything to the girl. You should know better than to think that. Whatever she says, it's probably delusional or a figment of her imagination. Her sick imagination at that---"   
"Don't start with me!" Sebastian explodes into the cell phone. He's now driving like a mad man on a mission across the Brooklyn Bridge, going well over the speed limit. "Don't--"   
"Sebastian, Sebastian...calm down...look whatever you think I did to your stepsister isn't true at all. Ok? I have to go now. Good night, son."   
"No--" Too late. Dial tone. "Dammit!" Sebastian mutters hastily under his breath. He slams the cell phone shut and tosses it into the backseat of his car. He turns into the nearest gas station after seeing his car was on empty. "Could this day get any better?" he mutters sarcastically to himself. He fills the car up with gas and then heads to his house hoping to catch his father. He reaches the house and sees his father's car there. He walks in the house after unlocking the door. He heads to his father's room where he sees Edward getting ready. He asks sarcastically,"Getting ready for your hot night out? Is this where you fucked her?"  
Edward glares at him,"I don't know what you are talking about."  
"Well then, what did you do after going to the symphony? I can't imagine you two just sat in this house and talked and somehow got some bruises." Sebastian retorts.  
Edward admits,"Fine. I admit it. I slept with her. I didn't rape her. She was asking for it and obviously wanted to. I mean with the outfit she was wearing, she was just begging for it. What part makes you madder? That you didn't get to sleep with her or that I got to her first?"  
Sebastian can't hold his anger in any longer and punches Edward in the face. He could no longer call this man father. He should have done this a long time ago.   
"What was that for?"Edward asks.  
Sebastian glares at Edward and replies,"Giving you what you've been asking for, for a long time." He punches him again.   
"Well, if that's the way you're going to be then I'll just have to fight back, now won't I?" Edward states as he kicks Sebastian in the stomach. He then proceeds to beat Sebastian into a bloody pulp. After he finishes, he looks at his watch. "Well, I have to go now. Wouldn't want to keep the boys waiting." He then adds menacingly,"I wouldn't tell anyone about this or you'll get something worse."  
"What are you going to do? Kill me?" Sebastian asks.  
Edward shakes his head. "How did you get so morbid? Oh well. It doesn't matter to me." He then walks out the door and heads to his hot night out.  
Sebastian walks into the kitchen and gets a cold piece of meat and puts it on his face. A little while later he looks in the mirror. He has two black eyes and cuts and bruises all over his face. The phone rings. He asks himself,"Who is it now?" He picks up the phone and says,"Hello?"  
Kathryn had just woken up from her sleep that had been filled with nightmares. "Sebastian? This is Kathryn. Can you come over?"  
"Yeah. Are you alright?" Sebastian asks full of concern.  
"I'm not sure."Kathryn replies feeling her eyes tear up again.  
Sebastian can tell by her voice that she's about to cry and tells her,"I'll be right over." He hangs the phone up and drives over to her home not paying any attention to the speed limit as usual. He arrives at her house quickly since they didn't really live that far apart. He uses the key he had been given by Kathryn and entered the magnificent apartment. He immediately walks to Kathryn's room. "Are you alright?"  
Kathryn sees his black eyes after looking at him and asks, "Oh my God. What the hell happened to you? Are you alright?"  
Sebastian realizes the blood on his face is still raw and some of it is actually dripping, which was a sight that he could tell repulsed Kathryn. "Oh--uh," he said, waving his hand, as if swatting flies. "Just uh, got into a fight."   
Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Tell me something I don't know. With whom?" She stood up and pulled out a towel from her bathroom, running it under cold water, then gently dabbing it against Sebastian's head.   
"My father," Sebastian answered. "That bastard."   
Kathryn sighed. "Sebastian, although your father is a bastard, I didn't mean to come between you two or break apart your relationship or anything--"  
"Hey, let's get one thing straight," Sebastian interrupted sharply, "I never had a relationship with that man. I should've kicked the shit out of him earlier, or at least attempted to." He sighed, feeling defeated. "I'm such a wuss. I couldn't even do that old man in."   
Kathryn shook her head. "Don't you DARE even think about killing him, Sebastian Valmont. I mean, I know I'm not exactly some sort of perfect little angel, but don't even *consider* murdering anyone out of anger, okay?" she said seriously. Sebastian looks at her, and for the first time, sees all the reason and intelligence behind Kathryn's otherwise bitchy exterior. He nodded. "Alright." He sighed. "So what'd you call me over here for? You okay?"   
"Better now that you're here,anyways."Kathryn replies. She stops cleaning Sebastian's face to explain,"Everytime I try to sleep, I get these dreams, nightmares really, and its like everything is happening over again. And over again. It doesn't stop. I try to wake up and I can't.I don't know what to do. I don't want to even close my eyes because all I'll see is him." She sits on her bed and holds her knees as she rocks back and forth.  
Sebastian sits on her bed and wraps his arms around her."Sssshh. It's going to be okay. I'm here."  
Kathryn leans back into Sebastian's arms. She wipes a tear from her eyes. "What am I going to do?"  
"I'll stay with you," Sebastian replied, "It'll take time to get over it, but I'll be right here if you need anything." He looked at her reassuringly.  
Kathryn nods, grateful. "Thank you. I don't have an extra bed in here or anything..."   
Sebastian sat down on the leather sofa in the corner. "This will do just fine," he insisted. "Now get some sleep." He cracked her a half smile, and sprawled out on the leather sofa, closing his eyes. Within seconds, he was asleep.  
Kathryn, on the other hand, couldn't sleep, even with Sebastian there. She was afraid she would get another nightmare. Sitting up in her bed, she looked out of the window at the moon, when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. A light knock. Kathryn climbed out of bed, thinking it's her mother, probably. She opened the door, and comes face to face with Edward. She opened her mouth to scream or gasp or something--   
Edward slapped his hand over Kathryn's mouth and drags her to the guest bedroom. "You bitch!" he hisses at her. "You got my son on my case because you opened your fucking mouth. That wasn't our deal."   
Kathryn trembled, Edward's hand still over her mouth.   
"You open your mouth to *anyone* else again, and I swear you'll be dead before you know it. Understood?"  
Kathryn weakly nods, scared out of her head.   
"Good."Edward says menacingly. "If you run and tell Sebastian about this, I'll kill him as well as you. You'd like that I bet, a romantic death for the two of you, huh?"  
Kathryn shakes her head and replies in a whisper,"I don't know what you mean..."  
"You know exactly what I mean. I've seen the way you two look at each other. You're in love, or lusting after, him and it's the same way with him. It's disgusting." Edward comments.  
Kathryn glares at him and shoots back,"No. You're what's disgusting."  
Edward slaps her, immediately after hearing this. "Don't you ever say something like that again. " He then informs her with the same tone of malice,"You are so lucky that your mother believes me and not you. The two of us are getting married whether or not you like it." He kisses her roughly and then orders,"Now go back to your sleeping Sebastian. Wouldn't want him to wake up and find you missing."  
"Too late."Sebastian says from the doorway where he had heard most of the conversation. 


	2. The Plot Thickens...

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looks up. "Sebastian, son..." he says, with a grim smile. "How nice of you to show up. You know. Protect your little girlfriend." He doesn't appear to be at all threatened by Sebastian's presence.   
\par \tab "Leave her alone, motherfucker!" Sebastian hollers, jumping his father and punching him.   
\par \tab Kathryn lets out a shriek as Sebastian hurls Edward across the room. A few landscape portraits hanging on the wall went crashing to the floor. Kathryn jumps back as the frame shatters, sending a spray of glass in every which way.   
\par \tab "Get off of me, you incest! You freak!" Edward sputters, and throws a fist into Sebastian's gut.   
\par \tab Sebastian keels over, and gasps for air, stumbling off of his father and hitting a wall. In the darkness, he feels something wet trickling down his face. Blood. That dirty little--   
\par \tab Edward grabs Sebastian by the collar of his shirt, yanking him to his feet. He yanks him harder, and harder.... ...and hurls him clear out of the window. It's a  
two story drop...Sebastian manages to grip the ledge of the window with both of his hands, his feet dangling beneath him.   
\par \tab "SEBASTIAN!" screams Kathryn. Kathryn goes over to the table where she knew there was a gun and opened the drawer. She pulls the gun out and without aiming too carefully fires a shot at Edward.  
\par \tab Edward screams out in pain as the bullet hits him in the leg. "You bitch."  
\par \tab Kathryn ignores him. She's beginning to finally feel in control. She puts the gun back in it's spot and then goes to Sebastian. "Here take my hands." She offers them out.  
\par \tab Sebastian gratefully takes them and Kathryn tries to pull him up. Sebastian has to help himself up since Kathryn isn't that strong. Luckily there were ledges that he could use to help him up. He get  
s back into the room and asks,"Shouldn't we call an ambulance or something?"  
\par \tab Kathryn nods. "Yeah probably." She looks over at Edward. "If they ask us what happened, we'll just say it was a robbery. After all wouldn't want me to get in trouble for shootin  
g you or you getting in trouble for throwing your son out of a window, right?"  
\par \tab Edward slowly nods. "Fine.I'll go with that story."  
\par \tab Kathryn picks up the phone and dials 911. "Hello....We need an ambulance here stepfather's been shot in the leg...Yes...No.....Okay." Kathryn hangs up the phone and then tells Edward  
,"They're on their way." Kathryn starts to walk out of the room with Sebastian to go take care of him.   
\par \tab Edward hobbles to the main door to wait for the amublance.   
\par \tab Kathryn takes Sebastian into her bathroom and sets him down on the wicker couch. She gets a towel and wets it. She starts to wipe his cuts. "Are you alright?" Kathryn asks.  
\par \tab "I'll be fine. No thanks to him."Sebastian answers as Kathryn takes care of him.  
\par \tab Kathryn bites her lip. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't told you, he wouldn't have done this."  
\par \tab "You can't blame yourself, Kathryn.It would probably be worse if you hadn't told anyone. He could keep doing things to you and no one could stop him." Sebastian explains.  
\par \tab Just then Kath  
ryn finishes dressing his wounds and says,"You probably should just stay here tonight. My mom's gone. She's over at my grandmother's making preparations for the wedding." Kathryn gets up from the wicker couch where she had been sitting and walks into her   
r  
oom. Sebastian gets up and follows her. Kathryn walks over to her door and locks it. "Just in case." She explains to Sebastian's puzzled look. "My mom will probably be home tomorrow before noon." Sebastian nods and makes a move to take the couch. "What ar  
e you doing?" Kathryn asks.  
\par \tab "Getting ready to sleep." Sebastian replies.  
\par \tab Kathryn looks at him. "You aren't sleeping on the couch tonight."  
\par \tab "Neither are you."Sebastian tells her. "But what about tomorrow when your mom gets home?"  
\par \tab Kathryn shakes her head. "That doesn't matter. We'll find a way. Trust me."  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "Alright." He gets into the bed as does Kathryn. Kathryn curls up next to him and rests her head on his chest.  
\par \tab ----The Next Morning----  
\par \tab There is a knock at the door. Kathryn and Sebastian instantly wake up as they hear Tiffany\rquote s voice. "Kathryn, wake up. We need to go to the hospital. Edward  
is there. He said something about an attempted robbery here. Do you know what he was talking about?"  
\par \tab Kathryn immediately gets out of bed. She calls,"Just a minute" to her mom as she pulls out the huge drawer under her bed. "Get in there."Kathryn whispers. "It's padded."  
\par \tab Sebastian looks at her funny but gets in it anyways. Kathryn shuts it. She then unlocks the door. She explains to her mother abou  
t the locked door,"Sorry. I was a little paranoid after what happened last night. This guy broke in and he tried to steal something and he ended out shooting Edward in the leg. It was in the guest room. Luckily, I knew where the gun was and shot the guy i  
n the arm so he would leave Edward alone. The guy ran out after that."  
\par \tab Tiffany sighs. "Luckily is right. I'm so proud of you. I'm going to go fix you and Sebastian breakfast. You'll go wake up Sebastian, won't you?"  
\par \tab "Of course." Kathryn says with a smile. She shuts the door behind Tiffany as Tiffany leaves. She pulls the drawer out from under her bed. "Are you alright?"  
\par \tab "Yeah.It was fine under there. Hidden a lot of people under there?"Sebastian questions with a half-smile.  
\par \tab   
Kathryn responds innocently,"Just the people my mom didn't know were spending the night in my room. " She then says,"Come on. I have to go 'wake you up.'" Kathryn walks to the large mirror in her bedroom and pushes it open, leading to Sebastian's room. Sh  
e shuts it behind them. "Don't worry it works both ways." She then heads back into her room.   
\par \tab "Where are you going?"  
\par \tab "To get dressed. Can't eat breakfast dressed like this."Kathryn responds with a smirk.Sebastian nods and heads to his closet to get dresse  
d. He puts on black pants and a black ribbed sweater.Kathryn had walked back into her room and picked out a black dress with a black jacket over it. She walks out of her room and knocks on Sebastian's door. "Sebastian? Are you up yet?"   
\par \tab Sebastian opens the door and walks out. "Up and ready." He walks with Kathryn to the kitchen.  
\par \tab Tiffany says,"Good morning." when she sees the two of them. She hands them their breakfast.   
\par \tab "Thanks mom."Kathryn tells Tiffany. She starts to eat.  
\par \tab Sebastian says,"Yeah. Thanks."He smiles at her and starts to eat his breakfast as well.  
\par \tab "So, what were your plans for today, Sebastian?" inquires Tiffany, slicing a grapefruit in half and sprinkling a dash of salt on it. She opens   
\par up a diet Slim Fast breakfast thing.  
\par \tab Sebastian chews slowly on his pancake. "I don't know. Probably head   
\par into town and get fitted for my suit for the wedding." It was ironic that  
\par he was to be his father's best man, considering the recent turn of events. He   
\par frowned, and suddenly his pancake tasted bitter at the thought.  
\par \tab "Ah, I see. Good idea," Tiffany says, nodding. She turns her  
\par back to rinse her hands in the sink.  
\par \tab Kathryn nudges Sebastian. "You look like you just ate a piece of  
\par shit," she whispers, "Are you okay? I don't want my mom to get suspicious."   
\par She throws a look at her mother, who's back is still turned.  
\par \tab Sebastian wipes his mouth, and downs the pancake with a glass of freshly   
\par squeeze orange juice. "Just thinking about the wedding," he answers  
\par in a low voice. "It just made me feel--"  
\par \tab "What about the wedding?" Tiffany asks suddenly, and Sebastian is  
\par astonished at that woman's keen sense of hearing. He can tell Kathryn is as   
\par well--Kathryn had a "deer-in-the-headlights" look on her face.  
\par \tab "It made me feel an adrenaline rush," Sebastian finishes his  
\par sentence, not missing a beat. "An adrenaline rush," he repeats, his heart  
\par pounding against his chest.  
\par \tab Tiffany smiles. "How sweet. Why don't you take Kathryn with you?   
\par She needs to get fitted for her bridesmaids dress. Seeing as to how you both are   
\par using the same seamstress."  
\par \tab Kathryn nods, and shoves another forkful of pancakes in her mouth.   
\par "It's a lovely idea, Mother. I am all for it," she says.  
\par \tab Sebastian nods as well."It is a good idea."  
\par \tab Tiffany asks,"What time were you supposed to be there?"  
\par \tab Sebastian replies,"Well, she didn't give a specific time but she closes at 4."  
\par \tab "Well, then you better leave soon. It's 1 o'clock now."Tiffany informs them.  
\par \tab Sebastian asks Kathryn,"If you're ready we can leave now."  
\par \tab She nods her head, eager to leave the house. "I'm ready." She gets up and puts her dishes in the sink for Lucia, the maid, to clean.  
\par \tab Sebastian gets up as well and follows her. They then head outside into Sebastian's car.  
\par \tab Kathryn stares out the window, thinking.  
\par \tab "Penny for your thoughts..."Sebastian says.  
\par \tab Kathryn doesn't shift her gaze from the window as she stares placidly   
\par outside, the trees and sky resembling blue and green blobs as the Roadster   
\par speeds down the road.  
\par \tab Sebastian looks at her, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles   
\par turn a white color. He isn't usually so tense, but Kathryn was never this   
\par quiet either. And she seemed fine during breakfast...  
\par \tab "Quit worrying, Sebastian," she says finally, shattering the  
\par silence. "I'm fine. I'm just a little upset that my mother is marrying a fuck like   
\par your father."  
\par \tab Sebastian opens his mouth, as if he's about to respond. Well. He   
\par couldn't argue with Kathryn on that one. He closes his mouth.  
\par \tab Kathryn looks at him, from behind her large tortoise shell sunglasses. "Tiffany is a good woman, Sebastian," she continues, "It's not  
\par like me to give a damn about this sentimental shit...but..."  
\par \tab Sebastian sees a tear trickle down Kathryn's cheek from underneath her   
\par shades. She hastily wipes it away with one vicious sweep of the hand.   
\par \tab "Anyway." Kathryn inhales sharply. "I'm over it. It's her  
\par life, and thank God it isn't mine."  
\par \tab There was a coldness in her voice, the same coldness that Sebastian had   
\par remembered when he first met Kathryn. He had a feeling this was probably the   
\par last conversation he'd have with "sentimental shit" Kathryn.  
\par \tab Sebastian nods slowly, somewhat dubiously. "Oh that's good...are...are  
\par you sure?" He's sure as hell that Kathryn is in some sort of weird denial   
\par stage...  
\par \tab Kathryn turns to him, an eerily sadistic smile curling up on the corner   
\par of her lips. "Of course, Sebastian. Everything is just fine. Are you  
\par sure you're okay with this arrangement? Hmmm?" She gets an idea. She says in a tone that mirrored her tone when she was weak,"If you can't handle this, then maybe you should take me to that mountain place. We could talk it out."  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "Alright." He drives her to the mountain. "So, you wanted to talk things out...."  
\par \tab Kathryn takes her seat belt off. "Hmm...talking is the last thing on my mind. Never used to be one of the main things on yours if I recall correctly." She then readjusts  
herself so that she is sitting on Sebastian's lap, facing him. She starts to kiss him.  
\par \tab Sebastian thinks to himself,*I guess this is her way with coping.* and then kisses her back. Kathryn continues to kiss him, letting the kisses get deeper and deeper an  
d makes a move to unbutton his pants. Sebastian's noticed that she started kissing him deeper and felt her unbuttoning his pants. Deeper than she had ever kissed him, even before she had spent that day with his father. He gently pulls her off of him and a  
sks,"What are you doing?"  
\par \tab "What does it look like I'm doing? Don't tell me you don't feel it either. Come on Sebastian. Give into your feelings. It won't hurt you." Kathryn tells him.  
\par \tab Sebastian admits,"Kathryn, I would love to...but not here, or under these circumstances. I mean are you even fully over what happened with Edward?"  
\par \tab Kathryn glares at Sebastian. "I'm fine. I've moved on. What's done is done. I've dealt with it. If you can't, well then someone has a problem." She then changes the subject,"Come on. Let's go to the seamstress. Wouldn't want to be late."  
\par \tab Sebastian glances at Kathryn from the corner of his eye, worried about   
\par her. He doesn't say anything as he starts up the engine and heads downtown.  
\par \tab *I can't believe he rejected me* Kathryn thought bitterly, trying to seem   
\par indifferent about the recent situation. She pushed her Donna Karan shades up   
\par the bridge of her nose coolly. *I'm over it. Really. I am* She snorts.   
\par Sure. Like she would *ever* get over such a horrible ordeal...but she wasn't   
\par about to let Sebastian know it. She was tired of that  
\par "I-pity-you-deeply" look he always gave to her.  
\par \tab Sebastian pulls up along the curb of a designer store, where the   
\par seamstress was waiting.  
\par \tab "I need a bottle of water," Kathryn mutters.  
\par \tab "Okay," Sebastian replies. They walk over to an Dasani bottled  
\par water   
\par dispenser nearby. Kathryn shoves in a few quarters, and as she does so, a   
\par vaguely familiar voice shouts out, "Kathryn! Sebastian!"  
\par \tab Kathryn looks up, mortified. She knew that voice. It was Abby. *What   
\par are the odds* she thought, with a sigh. She didn't really want to talk to   
\par that girl right now.  
\par \tab Abby walks over to Kathryn and Sebastian. "Hi!" She says brightly. "Are you feeling better, Kat? I mean last time we talked you were, no offense, kinda rude."  
\par \tab Kathryn forces a smile on her face. "I'm fine. I just had had a bad night. I'm so sorry."  
\par \tab "It's ok."Abby says with a smile. "So, where are you two headed?"  
\par \tab "To the seamstress. We have fittings and if we don't hurry, we'll be late." Kathryn explains.  
\par \tab Abby nods. "Ok. You two lovebirds have fun."  
\par \tab "Excuse me? What do you mean by that?" Kathryn asks with a glare.  
\par \tab Abby explains,"Well I mean you two are like always cuddling up to each other and I mean at Starbucks you guys were like practically making out and stuff so I just figured you were a couple."  
\par \tab "Look Abby, we're not a couple and never will be. Okay. I mean, right now he's practically my stepbrother. Soon it will be legalized. I'm not like you and Jack." Kathryn responds, a cold look in her face.  
\par \tab Abby's mouth drops open, as if she's just gotten slapped in the face.   
\par "God, cut it out with the verbal assault, Kathryn, you're gonna give me   
\par whiplash," she snaps, and Sebastian can tell she's hurt. Abby turns and   
\par storms away.  
\par \tab Kathryn watches her, with a look of no remorse. Sebastian can't believe   
\par how cold she's being. "Come on, Sebastian," she orders, walking into the   
\par shop.  
\par \tab "Mademoiselle Merteuil!" a woman in a thick French accent calls. "So   
\par good to see you." It's Madeline, the middle-aged, highly-esteemed clothing   
\par designer. She gives Kathryn a dainty little air kiss, as Sebastian looks on,   
\par amused.  
\par \tab "Good to see you as well, Madeline," Kathryn replies, in an   
\par uncharacteristically pleasant voice. She gestures towards Sebastian.   
\par "Madeline, this would be Monsiuer Valmont."  
\par \tab Sebastian extends a hand. "Nice to meet you."  
\par \tab Madeline nods and exchanges pleasantries. "Shall we get started?" she   
\par asks after all the introductions are done.  
\par \tab "Oui, oui," Kathryn agrees, with a firm nod.  
\par \tab As Madeline leaves to go pull out a few fabric samples, Sebastian turns   
\par to Kathryn in surprise. "I didn't know you spoke French," he says to her.  
\par \tab Kathryn grins at him. "There are a lot of things you don't know about   
\par me, Sebastian," she replies, running her fingers along the collar of his   
\par suit. "But you'll learn soon enough." She turns to go help Madeline with   
\par the fabric.  
\par \tab Sebastian is mesmerized by  
Kathryn. How she can go from being a bitch to being so flirtatious and at times somewhat nice amazed him. He followed Kathryn to pick the fabric out, even though he knew he didn't really need to play that big of a part in helping Madeline. She had alread  
y made his suit and only needed to make sure it fit right.  
\par \tab Kathryn looks at the fabric swatches that Madeline had picked. The color for all the bridesmaid dresses had already been set for a light lavendar. She picked the shade and fabric of it that she liked best.  
\par \tab Madeline nodded with a smile. "Good choice. That's the one I would have picked."  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles. "Well, I've been going to you for practically my whole life for my dresses, so you're expertise must be rubbing off on me."  
\par \tab Madelin  
e says to Sebastian,"I'll be right back. I'm going to go get your suit. It's ready except for a few possible alterations." She goes to the back room of the store where it is and brings it to Sebastian. "You can try it on over there." She points to a dress  
ing room.  
\par \tab Sebastian nods and walks over to it with the suit. He walks in the dressing room and changes into the suit. He looked in the mirror. He then walks out and asks,"What do you think?"  
\par \tab All Kathryn can say is,"Wow." She knew he would probably look good  
\par in the suit, but didn't know he would look this good.  
\par \tab Sebastian grins, and straightens out the collar cockily, doing a little   
\par runway turn. "Good? Good? Huh? How 'bout it? I'm pimpin'," he  
\par jokes.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles, shaking her head, trying not to laugh.  
\par \tab Madeline nods in approval. "I like it much. Do you like it  
\par much?"  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "I like it much that Kathryn appears to like it  
\par much," he teases. He nods. "I'll take it."  
\par \tab Madeline's assistant hurries up to Madeline with a sleek, satin lavender   
\par bridesmaids gown. They speak to each other indistinctly in French, then   
\par Madeline turns to the Kathryn and says, "Here, try on this dress. If it   
\par fits, it is to be yours for the wedding."  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles. "It's beautiful." She runs her fingers along the  
\par smooth fabric. It was a long, sleeveless dress that flaired at the hips. The front   
\par was rather low cut. She liked it...and she figured Sebastian probably would,   
\par too...  
\par \tab *He'll regret rejecting me earlier* she thought, with a grin. "I'll  
\par try it on, Madeline," she says, and turns on her heel. "Be right  
\par back."  
\par \tab Kathryn heads into the changing room and quickly changes into the dress.She does a once-over in the mirror that is in the changing room before deciding to come out. She walks out in the dress. "What do you think?"  
\par \tab Madeline smiles. "It's a perfect fit. Tres magnifique!"   
\par \tab Sebastian agrees with Madeline. He takes Kathryn in his arms and tilts her back. He jokes,"What do you say about right here, right now?"  
\par \tab Kathryn snickers,"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" She stands back up and regains her composure. She tells Madeline. "I'll take it. It's perfect."  
\par \tab Madeline nods. "I'm glad you like it. " Kathryn and Sebastian head to their separate changing rooms to change back into the clothes they were wearing when they came in. Madeline heads over to the register. "Are these together?" Madeline asks.  
\par \tab "Yeah."Sebastian answers as he hands over a credit card.  
\par \tab Madeline rings it up and then bags the two things up. She hands them to Kathryn, who takes them carefully. "Thank you Madeline."  
\par \tab "It's nothing my dear. Tell your mother I say hello." Madeline tells Kathryn.  
\par \tab "Of course."Kathryn replies as her and Sebastian walk out. Kathryn gets in the car, silently, waiting to see what Sebastian would say next.  
\par \tab Sebastian starts up the engine, recalling how beautiful Kathryn had   
\par looked in that lavender dress. He decides its best he doesn't comment on it,   
\par since she's obviously still in her strange denial state. He shoots her his   
\par most winning smile, but doesn't say anything.  
\par \tab Kathryn tries not to pout as Sebastian acknowledges her merely a sexy   
\par smile. That was it? *Well, damn* she thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes   
\par in disdain.  
\par \tab "So that was quite an interesting encounter with your friend  
\par Abigail," Sebastian remarks, shattering the silence that was forming between them like   
\par a thick fog. He sped down the highway, well over the speed limit--as usual.  
\par \tab Kathryn slips on her sunglasses. "Yeah, well. Our friendship is  
\par hardly mutual."  
\par \tab Sebastian raises an eyebrow. "Why call it a friendship anyway? What a  
\par crock of shit. If you wanna ditch the bitch, then at least let me see how   
\par she is in bed first," he says, "I can probably lower her self-worth by  
\par doing so, and besides, I haven't gotten any lately."  
\par \tab Kathryn stiffens at the thought of Abby and Sebastian doing the nasty.   
\par "I don't really care to know if you've gotten any lately," she  
\par retorts, "but ask her yourself. I'm not Abby's keeper." She tries not to seem too  
\par pissed, but it's hard not to appear that way...after the way Sebastian had rejected   
\par her...  
\par \tab Sebastian studies her hard, for a few minutes.  
\par \tab "Excuse me, hello, driver?!" Kathryn snaps, sarcasm dripping from  
\par her lips. "Keep your eyes on the road so you and the passenger don't end up   
\par flying out of the windshield! Sound like a good idea?" She frowns,  
\par crossing her arms.  
\par \tab *What is her problem?* Sebastian thin  
ks to himself and just nods in response to Kathryn. He turns away so that he was facing the street and not looking at Kathryn. He decides not to talk seeing as last time he tried, all it got was Kathryn in full-on bitch mode.  
\par \tab Kathryn looks out the window.  
She's not sure why she's taking it all out on Sebastian. *Because he rejected you and only pities you,* a voice tells her. Kathryn tries to shake it off. She doesn't remember the last time she felt this uncomfortable. She was supposed to be in control. S  
he had to be in control. If she wasn't, well then...  
\par \tab Sebastian interrupts her thoughts,"We're here." He gets out as does Kathryn.  
\par \tab Kathryn murmurs to herself,"Home sweet hell on earth." She walks inside and into her room, obviously ignoring Sebastian.  
\par \tab Tiffany notices Kathryn's pouty mood and asks Sebastian,"What's wrong with her?"  
\par \tab "I'm not sure."Sebastian replies. "I think I did something. Do you know her friend Abby?"  
\par \tab Tiffany nods. "Yeah, they were like best friends when they were little. But now Kathryn seems to hate everyone. Except for you. Do you think I should go talk to her?"  
\par \tab "Probably. Maybe you can figure out why she's acting this way."Sebastian says.  
\par \tab Tiffany walks over to Kathryn's room and knocks on the door. "Can I come in?"  
\par \tab "Sure."Kathryn replies obviously through tears. Kathryn wipes them away and tries to act composed as her mother walks in.  
\par \tab Tiffany opens the door and walks in. "How did the fitting go? Is everything alright? You look like your boyfriend just dumped you."  
\par \tab "The fitting went fine. "Kathryn responds. "It's just that something else..."  
\par \tab Tiffany asks, full of concern,"What is it?"  
\par \tab "It's about Sebastian.."Kathryn starts.  
\par \tab Tiffany interrupts,"Oh no. I was fearing this..."  
\par \tab Kathryn hesitates. "He's beginning to be such a pain, Mother. You  
\par know, it already feels like we've been siblings forever. We're starting to get on   
\par each others nerves." She was lying of course, but there was no other way  
\par to explain her true relationship with Sebastian...  
\par \tab Without seriously grossing her mother out, of course.  
\par \tab Tiffany hugs her. "Aww, Kathryn, honey, thank God. I thought you  
\par were going to tell me Sebastian you know...uh...put the uh...put the *move* on   
\par you, if you know what I mean..."  
\par \tab Kathryn shook her head, again lying through her teeth. "Mother,"  
\par she says calmly, "Sebastian and I could *never* be like that. That's so   
\par disgusting." *Yeah, right, it's *hardly* disgusting* she thought,  
\par sneering.  
\par \tab Tiffany patted her hand. "Well whatever differences you and Sebastian  
\par face as new siblings, I'm sure you'll work them out."  
\par \tab "Of course, Mother," Kathryn replies, in sickly sweet voice.   
\par "Thank you."  
\par \tab "If you need me, honey, I'll be here." Tiffany smiles and leaves  
\par Kathryn alone, shutting the door to her bedroom behind her.  
\par \tab Kathryn curses under her breath. Alone. Again. As usual.  
\par \tab Sebastian walks into his room and writes in his journal about Kathryn and about Abigail. He purposely doesn't shut the door so he can see when Tiffany left the room. Tiffany  
walks in Sebastian's room. "I'm going to go visit your father in the hospital. I'll be there a while, if either you or Kathryn needs anything."  
\par \tab Sebastian nods as he quickly shuts his journal. "Alright. Is Kathryn ok?" he asks.  
\par \tab "Yes, she's fine."Tiffany informs him and then leaves. Sebastian waits til he hears the front door of the apartment shut and then walks into Kathryn's room.  
\par \tab "What are you doing here?"Kathryn asks somewhat coldly. *If Sebastian's going to treat me as if I'm non-existent I'll do the same.*  
\par \tab Sebastian responds,"Do I need a reason to drop in on my darling sister?"   
\par \tab Kathryn puts the magazine she had started to read away. "Yes."She replies simply. "Do you even have one?"  
\par \tab "I wanted to see you." Sebastian tells her.  
\par \tab "There. You've seen me. If that's all you wanted, then feel free to leave." Kathryn states.  
\par \tab Sebastian questions teasingly,"What if I don't want to?"  
\par \tab Kathryn exclaims,"God, don't do that. You think you can treat me like you did earlier and then just waltz in here and act like everything between us is peachy-fucking keen. And it's not."  
\par \tab "'Treat me like you did earlier'?" Sebastian echoes incredulously."Refresh my memory if you would." He stares at her with such an even,  
\par cold gaze, it's hard for Kathryn not to squirm under it.  
\par \tab *I'm tougher than him. I'm better than him* she tells herself   
\par repeatedly, to regain her composure and confidence. She steadily returns the   
\par same icy stare. "Let's see...when we were on the hill, you rejected me,   
\par acting all chicken-ass. And just right after, you tell me you want to get it   
\par on with Abigail. Refreshed yet?"  
\par \tab Sebastian chews his lower lip. "Just because I met you doesn't mean  
\par that my sexual conquests have to come to an abrupt halt," he replies,  
\par "although you mean a lot more to me than anyone else ever will..." He takes a few   
\par steps towards the bed where Kathryn is perched on.  
\par \tab Kathryn lights a cigarette, and blows a puff of smoke into Sebastian's   
\par face as he leans over her. "Funny, I mean so much to you that you would   
\par resist actually kissing me back or letting me give you a blow job."  
\par \tab Sebastian leans back. "Damn it, Kathryn, you were just so vulnerable   
\par when were on that hill...I couldn't do that to you."  
\par \tab Kathryn raises an eyebrow. "Wow, so the infamous Sebastian Valmont   
\par actually has a conscience? Wow..." She smirks.  
\par \tab Sebastian ignores her comment and changes the subject,"So what did you and mother dearest talk about? Me, per chance?"  
\par \tab "Could your ego be any bigger?"Kathryn shoots back. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes. You were occasionally mentioned. Basically it was just my mom doing the protective, 'are you ok?' mother thing."  
\par \tab "Hmmm thought so. Your mom gave me a weird look when I asked if you were alright." Sebastian responds. "Oh yeah, in case you were wondering where she was, she went to the hospital to visit Edward."  
\par \tab Kathryn notices how Sebastian called his father by his first name but doesn't say anything about it. "So, the house is empty then. It's Mai-Lee's day off."  
\par \tab Sebastian raises an eyebrow. He pretends to think,"Well, what should we do? I mean I don't have any plans, so it's your pick."  
\par \tab He was suggesting something, of course. As always.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles at him sweetly, running her fingers along his cheek.   
\par "Sorry, Sebastian, honey. You blew it earlier." She takes off her  
\par black cardigan to reveal a low-cut black top...  
\par \tab Sebastian regrets deeply for rejecting Kathryn on the hill. *That's   
\par exactly why it sucks to actually care about people* he thinks. *I should   
\par lose this conscience of mine soon, it's starting to bite me in the ass*.  
\par \tab "I blew it...didn't I," Sebastian echoes, "Well you know that  
\par saying, forgive and forget..." He advances on her...  
\par \tab "Uh-uh," Kathryn says, pushing him away. "Sorry, Sebastian.   
\par Doesn't work that way, at least not in my little black leather book." She grins at  
\par him, and stands up. "I'm going into town? Care to come along?"  
\par \tab Sebastian watches, trying to hide his disappointment, as Kathryn slips on   
\par her black cardigan again and re-buttons it. "Yeah. Let's go."  
\par \tab Kathryn gets off her bed and walks out of the room, Sebastian following her. They head out to his car and they both get in. Sebastian drives into town, abov  
e the speed limit as always, when Kathryn suggests,"Can we get a bite to eat? I'm kind of hungry."  
\par \tab "Sure. Where do you want to go?" Sebastian asks.  
\par \tab "Hmm...I'm in the mood for ice cream. Know any good spots where I could get some?" Kathryn replies.  
\par \tab Sebas  
tian nods and drives to a little ice cream cafe that he knew of. They walk inside and Kathryn orders an ice cream cone with a cherry on top. Sebastian doesn't order anything. Kathryn gets the cone and they sit down at a table for two. Kathryn takes the ch  
e  
rry off the cone and starts to suck it. She waits until the last possible moment to bite it off the stem. She puts the stem to the side and then starts to lick the ice cream on the cone. She looks at Sebastian's face and winks at him. She starts to laugh.  
  
\par \tab "What's so funny?"Sebastian asks.  
\par \tab Kathryn responds,"Your reaction." She looks at her watch. "Oh! We're going to be late."  
\par \tab "Late where?"Sebastian questions.  
\par \tab "To registration. We have to register for classses at Manchester today. We better go."Kathryn says as she throws away the ice cream cone which she didn't want anymore. Sebastian and her headed out to the car.  
\par \tab "Do I have to go?"   
\par \tab Kathryn replies,"It's mandatory Sebastian. They're going to make us go on the tour and everything even though some of us have already been there. They make everyone."  
\par \tab Sebastian frowns and heads to the school. They arrive at the school and get out of the car. They walk inside the building and head to the first table which has all the forms for the classes you're taking. Kath  
ryn whispers to Sebastian,"Here sign up for this course. It's really easy and I'll be in it."  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. Court Reynolds, son of Garret Reynolds, walks over to Kathryn and Sebastian. "Hey Kathryn. Nice to see you again."  
\par \tab "You two."Kathryn tells him as she puts on one of her most charming smiles. "It's been awhile."  
\par \tab Court pulls her aside and asks in a whisper,"Why are you here with Sebastian?"  
\par \tab "You know him? He's my new step-brother." Kathryn explains, not bothering to whisper.   
\par \tab Court whispers again,"Has he tried anything with you? If he ever does let me know."  
\par \tab Kathryn shakes her head. "No. Perfect gentleman."  
\par \tab Sebastian watches as Kathryn and Court talk in low, discreet voices to   
\par each other. It was annoying the hell out of him. "Court! What a  
\par surprise," Sebastian interrupts in an obviously put-on cheery tone.  
\par \tab Court nods. "Sebastian. Good to see you."  
\par \tab Sebastian slaps him heartily on the back. "Man, it's great to be back  
\par in this school building again. Kinda gives you a rush! You know, I love my   
\par school books so much, I could just fuck 'em." He looks at Court, to see  
\par what his reaction would be.  
\par \tab Kathryn looks somewhat mortified. "Sebastian," she says, in a  
\par rather warning tone. She looks at Court and laughs. "Sebastian is on Ritalin.   
\par Keeps him from bouncing off the walls. It gets to his brain."  
\par \tab Court laughs and nods slowly. "Ummm, sure."  
\par \tab "You know, Court, we should probably head on over to that tour that we're supposed to go on. I'll see you later Sebastian." Kathryn says as she walks off with Court.  
\par \tab Sebastian dully nods. *Another girl taken by Court. Oh well, I'll get Kathryn back.* Just then Abigail walks over to Sebastian.  
\par \tab "Hi Sebastian! I wasn't expecting to see you here."Abby says in an upbeat tone.  
\par \tab Sebastian smiles. "Have you already registered?"   
\par \tab "Yeah. Have you?" Abby asks.  
\par \tab Sebastian nods and then suggests,"How would you feel about coming over to my house? I'm sure Kathryn has a ride home with Court."  
\par \tab "That sounds great."Abby says as they walk outside to Sebastian's car.  
\par \tab Sebastian drives to his house and they walk in. "My father's not home." he tells her.   
\par \tab "Ooooh, good for us."Abby says with a wink as she starts to kiss him. Sebastian kisses her back and leads Abby to his bedroom.  
\par *****  
\par \tab Kathryn asks Court,"So how have you been? Have you had a good summer?"  
\par \tab "Yeah it was nice. We went to Europe in for a month." Court replies.  
\par \tab "How wonderful."Kathryn smiles. "Europe's so nice. I'm considering going to the south of France for the end of summer."  
\par \tab "Well, if that doesn't work out how does going to the Hamptons for Labor Day weekend sound?" Court asks.  
\par \tab Kathryn replies,"It's sounds wonderful. Who all is going to go?"  
\par \tab "My family, my brother's wife, and now you."Court says with a smile.  
\par \tab "It sounds nice. I can't wait." Kathryn tells him. "Oh, if you don't already have plans, how would you like to come to my mom's wedding? It's next weekend and I'd love if you would come. "  
\par \tab Court nods. "Sure. As long as we can find a way to avoid Sebastian."  
\par \tab "That might be kind of hard. I mean after all, his father is marrying my mom. He's the best man which means he's my escort to the altar." Kathryn explains.  
\par \tab "Oh, I take it you're the maid of honor?"  
\par \tab Kathryn nods. "Yeah. Another one of my mom's ideas to bring me and Sebastian closer. She's got it in her head that we should have this brother-sister bond thing."  
\par \tab Court takes her hand in his and asks,"What do you say we go to a movie?"  
\par \tab "Sounds fun. Any one in particular?"Kathryn asks.  
\par \tab "We can decide when we get to the theater." Court tells her. Court leads Kathryn outside to his car and they drive to the movie theater.  
\par ----Time-------  
\par \tab Abby looks at the clock after her and Sebastian had finished. "Oh. I hate to do this but I have to get home. My mom wants me to go back to school shopping with her. Tell Kathryn I said hey."  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "I'll do that. Bye." He watches Abby go. He thin  
ks to himself,*She's even a worse lay than she is boring.* He finishes his journal entry up and heads into his bathroom to take a shower. When he finishes, he wraps a towel around himself and he hears a knock at the bathroom door.  
\par \tab Kathryn walks in after knocking. "Hi. " She notices his lack of clothes. "Oh, sorry did I come at a bad time?"  
\par \tab "Depends on how you look at it."Sebastian replies, obviously implying something, as always.  
\par \tab He grins, thinking how Kathryn would not be pleased he just knocked Abby up. "And how was your outing with the impeccable sweater-clad fag?"   
\par \tab Kathryn returns his grin. "It was wonderful. And just because he actually has manners and he wears sweaters doesn't neccessarily make him a fag, thank you very much."   
\par \tab "Yeah. Sweaters three sizes too small for him," Sebastian mutters. "It's not like he has any muscles to complement those fag sweaters of his."  
\par \tab Kathryn raised an eyebrow. "Court invited me to a Fourth of July picnic at the Hamptons. I'm quite excited about that," she continues, "although I can see you're jealous much."   
\par \tab Sebastian snorts, trying to mask any signs of jealousy. "Hardly. While you were having a *wonderful* time with Mr.I-have-the-highest-GPA-in-the-fucking-junior-class, I was having some fun of my own."   
\par \tab Kathryn smirks. "Yeah? Who was your victim this time?" She lit a cigarette, puffed on it, then disposed of it. She sprayed some air freshener to get rid of the murky odor.   
\par \tab "Well--" Sebastian began.   
\par \tab Before Sebastian could proceed to elaborate, Kathryn notice  
d a pair of sunglasses sitting on the nightstand near Sebastian's bed. She knew them from anywhere. They were Abby's. "Oh no...you didn't," Kathryn says, in utter disbelief. She tries to hide her anger and envy by putting on a forced smile. "You naughty b  
oy."   
\par \tab "You don't get to have all the fun. Now, who's jealous?"Sebastian says with a smirk.  
\par \tab Kathryn replies,"I am not jealous. I don't really care who or even how you fuck."  
\par \tab "Your denying it just proves my point." Sebastian responds.  
\par \tab Kathryn glares at him. "Why would I be jealous?"  
\par \tab "Because I slept with Abby and not you."  
\par \tab Kathryn feels like the wind had just been knocked out of her and had been slapped. "Sorry, I just remembered I had better things to do than be here with you. I have to go."  
\par \tab "Wait. Don't go. " Sebastian tells her.  
\par \tab Kathryn asks,"Give me one good reason not to. I mean I come down here just to see how you were and you just rub it in that you slept with the girl who was my best friend."  
\par \tab Sebastian didn't even have a reason for her to stay.  
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. *Think, damn it!* He closes his mouth, and looks at Kathryn, who is glaring at him sternly. If looks could kill, he'd be dead and buried. "Sorry. I didn't mean to rub it in your face. Let's just have a civilized  
conversation. Nothing that has to do with our personal lives," Sebastian says finally. It was the only thing he could come up with, despite the lameness of it.   
\par \tab Kathryn smiles sweetly at him. "Well then. That wouldn't give us much to talk about, now would it?" she retorts viciously. \tab "Ouch! That hurt like root canal!" Sebastian tosses back. "You're paying for my dental bill, doc."   
\par \tab Kathryn slips on her sunglasses. "Sorry, but that wasn't the apology or attempt at an apology I was looking for," she says, the obviously put-on smile remaining on her pretty face. "Ciao, brother." She turns on her heel and leaves.  
\par \tab Sebastian watches her go. "Damn." He scrambles off of the bed, putting on some clothes, and following Kathryn.   
\par \tab "Wait, where are you going?" he calls after her, sticking one arm into his coat sleeve.   
\par \tab "Sebastian, girls don't exactly find stalker-like habits endearing, you know," Kathryn teases as she heads out of the front door, not even holding it open for him. The door slams in his face.   
\par \tab "Shit!" he exclaims, but recovers quickly and continues to pursue Kathryn out of the apartment. "Well? Where are you going?"   
\par \tab "If you must know, Court asked me out tonight to dinner tonight, and well, I don't think he invited you. I don't think he ever *will* invite you to *any* sort of outing."   
\par \tab "What, are you kidding? The guy loves me. He loves me so much, he would give up being straight to become gay for *my* sake," Sebastian jokes.   
\par \tab Kathryn laughs, then says shortly, "I'd like to see that happen--*not*." She whistles for a taxi cab, and waves her hand at the corner of the street.   
\par \tab "C'mon, blow the fag and hang out with me," Sebastian pleads.   
\par \tab Kathryn smirks. "Shouldn't you be with Abigail?"   
\par \tab Sebastian shook his head. "I want you." A taxi cab pulls up along the curb, and Kathryn opens the car door. Sebastian slams it hastily, and Kathryn snaps back, her fingers almost getting caught in the door.  
\par \tab "God! I was seconds away from having my fingers amputated," Kathryn snaps. She reaches for the car door again. \tab "Hey, get out of here," Sebastian says to the cab driver.  
\par \tab "Hell no. I need the money, man," the cab driver says.   
\par \tab Sebastian hands him a crisp 100 dollar bill. "Get the hell out of here before I gut you like a fish." The cab driver speeds off in a hurry.   
\par \tab Kathryn looks at Sebastian, amused. "'Gut you like a fish'? Where'd you get *that* line from?"   
\par \tab "'Scream'. I only saw it because of Neve Campbell," Sebastian replies. "Now blow Court off and go into town with me." He looks at her intensely.   
\par \tab "With an offer like that how can I refuse?"Kathryn asks sarcastically.  
\par \tab Sebastian asks,"Are you going to make me start begging?"  
\par \tab "It would be pretty amusing to watch..."Kathryn starts. She then asks,"Anyway, if I were to stay, what would we even do? I mean, I certainly won't do what you probably had in mind."  
\par \tab Sebastian sighs in defeat,"I don't know."  
\par \tab "That's what I thought. If you give me a ride to my house, I'll stay there with you until Court picks me up. Which will give you the opportunity to do whatever you want for the evening." Kathryn responds.   
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "Fine." He heads over to the parking space where his car is a  
nd Kathryn follows. She gets in the car, as does Sebastian. They drive over to her house and get out of the car once they reach their destination. They walk in the luscious apartment.  
\par \tab Kathryn asks,"So what should we do?"  
\par \tab Sebastian looks at her. "Depends in what you're in the mood for," he answers, rather suggestively.  
\par \tab Kathryn's expression remains indifferent. "That so?"   
\par \tab Sebastian grins and nods. "It's so."   
\par \tab "You know, Court and I are beginning a relationship," Kathryn replies, "I don't usually admit such things, but I happen to like him. A lot. And to have you meddling around with me--with our relationship--is not very fair to Court..."  
\par \tab Sebastian feels a surge of disappointment. He doesn't say anything; he waits for Kathryn to finish, since she doesn't seem to be through.   
\par \tab "...But I don't care...I'm not indebted to him...hell, I'm not indebted to *anyone*...and I can meddle with whomever I please," Kathryn finishes, advancing towards him.  
\par \tab Sebastian smiles. "That's what I like to hear." He walks to his room and Kathryn follows. "Is your mom out?" He locks the door behind them just in case anyone stopped by.  
\par \tab "She'll be out for the day. Shopping. "Kathryn explains. "She'll probably be back around 7, which is when I will be leaving." Kathryn looks at the clock. It's 5:00 now. "I'm going to have to start getting ready at 6. So we have about an hour."  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. He's going to wait for her to make the first move since he isn't sure on where they stand. Kathryn senses Sebastian's hesitation and walks   
closer towards him. She starts to kiss him and he kisses her back. They move closer to Sebastian's bed as they kiss. After they reach the bed, Kathryn gently pushes him onto it. Kathryn gets onto the bed and gets onto Sebastian. They make out for a while   
and once they finish for a while, both of them are dishelved: buttons undone, hair a mess, clothes wrinkled. Kathryn looks at herself in a mirror and comments,"Wow. I look really bad."  
\par \tab Sebastian disagrees. "You look beautiful."  
\par \tab "You're just saying that since we just made out and you want more."Kathryn tells him in a matter of fact tone of voice.  
\par \tab He responds,"No. Really, I mean it."  
\par \tab Kathryn changes the subject,"What do you say we go swimming?" She winks at him.  
\par \tab Sebastian thinks up the possibilities and quickly agrees. "That sounds good."  
\par \tab "Okay, I'll meet you out at the pool." Kathryn tells him with an idea formulating.  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "Alright."  
\par \tab Kathryn walks into her room and quickly changes into a silver bik  
ini. She walks into the pool and gets used to the water. She lets out a scream since the water is so cold and because of her plan. She dives into the pool and floats facedown, hoping Sebastian would come to the pool quickly.  
\par \tab Sebastian had just finished ch  
anging into his swim trunks when he heard Kathryn scream. He quickly runs to the pool and sees Kathryn facing down. He thinks the worst immediately.He quickly dives in and picks Kathryn up and turns her over. He starts to perform mouth-to-mouth on her whe  
n Kathryn starts to kiss him. Sebastian looks at her strangely but then decides to ignore it, figuring it was just a prank.   
\par \tab Kathryn pulls Sebastian down to her and continues to kiss him. She straddles her legs around him and they keep kissing. After a while, they take a break so they could breathe. Kathryn curiously asks,"Ever fuck in water?"  
\par \tab Sebastian shakes his head. "No. "  
\par \tab "One of these days, if you're lucky, I may just do that to you..."Kathryn responds with a wink.  
\par \tab Sebastian feels his heart thud wildly. "One of these days? Now is the perfect time..." he murmurs, advancing on her. \tab   
Kathryn wriggles out of his grasp. "Sorry, Sebastian. I have to go get ready for my date." She smiles at him sweetly and leaves.   
\par \tab Sebastian watches her go, terribly disappointed. "Damn," he mutters. He snatches a towel off a beach chair and dries himself off.   
\par \tab Meanwhile, Kathryn takes a bubble bath upstairs, then picks out an outfit while blow-drying her hair. "Hmmm..." she murmurs. She touches a sleeveless black minidress.   
\par \tab "I like that one."   
\par \tab Startled, Kathryn turns her head, and sees Sebastian leaning against the door frame. "Shit, don't sneak up on me like that," Kathryn snaps. "I was afraid that might've been your dad. Don't *ever* do that again." She regains her co  
mposure, and tosses the minidress into the back of her closet.   
\par \tab "Sorry," Sebastian apologizes sincerely, and rather sheepishly.  
\par \tab Kathryn waves her hand, as if swatting flies. "Yeah. It's okay." She continues sifting through her closet for an outfit. She pulls out a creme colored minidress with a creme cardigan. "Well?" she asks Sebastian, holding it up.   
\par \tab "You're asking my opinion?"Sebastian asks teasingly. "I feel so important now."  
\par \tab Kathryn glares at him. "Well you're a guy. And I know you'll be honest with me."She holds the dress up to herself." So, what do you think?"  
\par \tab "It'll look great." Sebastian tells her, wishing that she would stay home with him than go out with Court. But he supposed there wasn't anything he could do about it.   
\par \tab Kathryn looks in the mirror with it held up to her. *It would do.* She steps into the dress under her robe and takes the robe off as she pulls the straps on. She asks Sebastian, "Can you zip me up?"  
\par \tab Sebastian nods and zips her dress up. Sebastian takes a step back and admires her. "You look stunning."  
\par \tab "Thank you."She replies with a half-smile. Kathryn looks in the mirror and twists her hair into a semi-formal do. She does her makeup and then walks into her closet. She picks out a pair of black heels and puts them on. Sh  
e walks out of the closet and puts on her diamond earrings. She then slips on the creme cardigan. Kathryn catches a glimpse of the clock, which reads 7 o'clock, and hears a knock on the front door. She smiles to herself,"That must be Court." She walks to   
the door and opens it. "Hello Court."  
\par \tab "Hello Kathryn. May I say that you look beautiful as always?" Court asks with a smile.  
\par \tab Kathryn responds, smiling as well,"You may. And you look handsome as ever." She walks out the door locking it behind her.   
\par \tab Court takes her hand in his and walks her to his car. They drive to the Italian restaurant. "I hope Italian is alright."  
\par \tab "I love Italian food." Kathryn informs him as they walk into the restaurant. It is one of the nicest Italian restaurants in town. They are  
guided to a table where they sit down. After looking at the menu briefly, and have gotten their drinks, they order. After eating the food and talking through practically the entire meal, Court pays the bill and they leave the restaurant. Court drives Ka  
thryn to the top of a hill, the same one Sebastian had taken her before.  
\par \tab Court stops the car and asks Kathryn,"Are you having a good time?"  
\par \tab "A wonderful time. The best I've had in a while."Kathryn replies.  
\par \tab Court smiles. "I'm glad. I've been wanting to do this for a long time."  
\par \tab "Why didn't you ask sooner? All my friends could have told you that I have the hots for you." Kathryn asks.  
\par \tab Court admits,"I guess it was maybe because I was worried you would shoot me down. Also, you were going out with Justin."  
\par \tab "If I had known you were interested, I would have dumped Justin a whole lot earlier." Kathryn reveals.  
\par \tab Court makes a move to kiss Kathryn and Kathryn kisses him back. Since Court was somewhat of a gentleman,  
he didn't let it go any further than making out. Which please Kathryn, since she really didn't feel like fucking him. It wouldn't be fair to Court, since she would be thinking of Sebastian. *I need to get him out of my head. I mean, he's about to become   
m  
y stepbrother and if anything got found out about us, my reputation would be ruined.* A little later, Court drives Kathryn home. Court walks Kathryn to her door, where unbeknowst to Kathryn and Court, Sebastian was spying on them. Court gives Kathryn a k  
iss goodnight. After they finish kissing, Kathryn smiles at Court and says,"Good night."  
\par \tab "I'll call you."Court tells her and he actually means it.  
\par \tab Kathryn nods and opens the door. She waves goodbye and shuts the door. She walks into her room to go get rea  
dy for bed when she notices Sebastian sitting in the chair by her door. "God, Sebastian. I'm going to have to put a bell on you so you don't scare me like that anymore."  
\par \tab Sebastian smiles innocently. "Sorry. I just wanted to see how it went with you and Court?"  
\par \tab "Do I interest you that much?" Kathryn asks.  
\par \tab Sebastian replies,"But of course. You intrigue me farther than you will ever know."  
\par \tab "Well, not that it's any of your business, but the date went fine. Court was a perfect gentleman."Kathryn informs Sebastian.  
\par \tab Sebastian snorts. "Could that guy be any more of a faggot?"   
\par \tab Kathryn arches an eyebrow at him. "Please. You're just jealous because he can actually restrain himself from fucking every girl that has a pulse."   
\par \tab Sebastian tries to be nonchalant as he answers, "My point exactly. That guy doesn't have hormones, which is hardly normal. He's a fag, I tell you."   
\par \tab Kathryn rolls her eyes, rather weary, but flattered that Sebastian is blowing this out of proportion. She's enjoying this whole scene very much. "The only fag I use is this." She holds up a cigarette, and lights it.   
\par \tab "Very funny," Sebastian says.   
\par \tab "You need a girlfriend. Like a steady one. So I can ramble on about what a fag she is," teases Kathryn, smoking her cigarette.   
\par \tab Sebastian smirks. "I don't find any of these Manhattan debutantes girlfriend material. Isn't it clear and concise that I want you?"   
\par \tab Kathryn smiles sweetly at him. "That's so touching, Sebastian. But you know, the reality of it all is, everyone wants something they can't have."   
\par \tab "But I bet even if I had you, I would still want you." Sebastian replies.  
\par \tab Kathryn laughs to herself. "It's just too bad you'll never know. Unless, our parents do get divorced and then you would have only a *slight* chance." An idea pops into Kathryn's head. "You know, I bet you can't even get a steady girlfriend."  
\par \tab "Care to make a wager on that?" Sebastian asks, suddenly very interested.  
\par \tab Kathryn nods. "Fine with me."  
\par \tab "What are the terms?"Sebastian asks.  
\par \tab Kathryn replies,"If I win, then you have to do what I tell you to for a week."  
\par \tab "And if I win?"Sebastian inquires.  
\par \tab Kathryn responds,"Then I'll dump Court and....well the other part you'll figure out if you do win." Kathryn smiles, since she knows he's going to desperatly want to know what the othe  
r part was. She wanted it to be a surprise if he did win the bet, and got a blowjob. She was doubting he would win and if he did and she just so happened to have changed her mind, he wouldn't even know.  
\par \tab "It's a deal," Sebastian declares, extending his hand towards Kathryn.   
\par \tab She shakes it, a grin spreading across her face. "Good luck, Sebastian," she says, rather elusively.   
\par \tab   
Sebastian slips on his sunglasses. "I don't have a minute to lose. Ciao." He heads out of the apartment, and drives downtown. He decides the choice location for babes--and to subtly ask one out, at that--was most likely Prada or Starbucks. What would his   
excuse be to go to Prada? He'd have to think that one up fast. He pulls up next to a sign that clearly reads "no parking at any hour" and heads into Prada.   
\par \tab Sure enough, the saleswoman that greets him is a full-fledged hottie. Her name tag read : Lila. She gives him a rather weary "what-the-hell-is-a-guy-doing-in-here" smile, and asks, "May I help you, sir?"  
\par \tab "Ah...yes, I'm looking for a handbag for my sister. Tomorrow's her birthday," Sebastian lies, studying Lila intently. She had dark blonde-brown curls  
that tumbled down her back like a cascade of waterfalls. Her eyes were a honey brown, and she was wearing a low-cut minidress. She was pretty, but definitely *no* Kathryn.   
\par \tab "Right over here, sir," Lila says, "We have a variety of handbags." She strolls over to a shelf with flourescent lights.  
\par \tab It reminded Sebastian of a deli, except instead of meat, there were handbags under the light. Weird. "You're beautiful," Sebastian says, without hesitation. "I'm a photographer. And I've seen many beautiful people.  
..but you...wow." Of course, this was not at all true, he'd seen plenty better looking people, including Kathryn.   
\par \tab Lila blushes. "Thank you." She sees her manager looking over at her. She whispers to Sebastian,"I get off in about 15 minutes. If you're sti  
ll interested, then meet me outside by the door." She then says aloud,"Well, I'll be over at the register. If you need any help with finding a handbag then just come over." She walks over to her scowling manager.  
\par \tab Sebastian applauds himself over his luck.   
He knew Prada was the right choice. Besides, if he went to Starbucks he'd probably find some drama queen and that was the last thing he wanted. He picks out a white handbag and walks over to the register where Lila is talking to the employee next to her.   
"I'll take this."  
\par \tab Lila replies,"Good choice. How will you be paying?"  
\par \tab "Credit card." Sebastian responds as he pulls it out of his pocket.   
\par \tab Lila rings up the bag and takes the credit card. Sebastian signs the bill and puts the card back in his pocket. He   
takes the bag and walks out. Lila tells her manager,"I'm clocking out." She walks to the back room where she takes off her name tag and clocks out. She walks out of Prada and sees Sebastian standing outside of the door. "Hey."  
\par \tab "What do you say, we go get a bite to eat?" Sebastian asks with a smile on his face.  
\par \tab Lila nods. "That would be nice. Any particular place you want to go?"  
\par \tab Sebastian shrugs. "It doesn't matter. Pick anyplace. No matter the price."  
\par \tab "Well. You're quite loaded, aren't you, Sebastian Valmont?" Lila remarks, with a wry smile.   
\par \tab Sebastian is caught off guard. "How do you know my name?" he demands.   
\par \tab Lila rolls her eyes. "Chill. I saw it on your credit card. Not big on the introductions, are you? Just go for the kill?" She smiles. "Well I can say I certainly don't mind."   
\par \tab Sebastian knows this is gonna be much too easy. He smiles back. "I was thinking maybe you'd want to have lunch at my place? We have a maid. She cooks fantastic food." Sebastian thinks to himself,*Plus Kathryn for sure wouldn't be at my house.*  
\par \tab Lila nods. "Alright." After Sebastian leads Lila to his car, she comments,"Cool car."  
\par \tab "Thanks. I love it." Sebastian informs Lila. They drive to his apartment. He opens up the door and waves an arm. "After you."  
\par \tab Lila walks in. "You must really be loaded."  
\par \tab Sebastian changes the subject. "Let's see if we can find Ermenalinda . She's probably cleaning somewhere." Sebastian walks into his room where Ermenalinda is. "Could you make a lunch for two?"  
\par \tab She nods. "Of course sir."  
\par \tab Sebastian walks back out to where Lila is. "She was cleaning my room. She's going to start making us lunch." Sebastian then hears a knock at the door. "I wonder who that could be."  
\par \tab He opens the door and sees Abigail who immediately kisses him on the cheek. "Hi Sebastian. Is this a bad time?" She says the last part in reference to Lila.  
\par \tab "Not really. Come on in." Sebastian replies.  
\par \tab Abigail walks in. "I just came to get my sunglasses. I think I left them in your room." She giggles at the last part thinking what they had done in his room. "You know, Sebastian, I missed you..."  
\par }{\f2\cgrid0 \tab }{\fs24\cgrid0 Lila raises an eyebrow at Sebastian. He can see her jaw tighten at the sight of Abigail, her lips pursed as if she'd just sucked on something truly sour. Not good. "Oh, yeah, silly you," Seba  
stian says quickly, "Are you drunk? You look terribly drunk." Hell! What was he going to do now?   
\par \tab Abigail frowns. "Hmm? No I'm completely fine, Sebastian, really."  
\par \tab "You look ill," Sebastian insists more persistently. "You've been drinking again haven't   
you? I don't think you left your sunglasses here. Ermalinda would have mentioned it when she cleaned my room. Perhaps you left them at my stepsister's home, is that right?" He was lying of course.  
\par \tab Abigail looked terribly confused and bewildered, which only benefited Sebastian and made his lie seem more feasible. "Huh?" Abigail asked, flustered.   
\par \tab "I told you alcohol is bad for your memory and your immune system," Sebastian rambled on. "What did you come here for again?"   
\par \tab Abigail, by this time, was so thrown, she didn't really know what to say. "What?" she asks.  
\par \tab Sebastian shakes his head at Lila, as if its a shame. "That's what alcohol does to you," he said to her. Lila nodded knowingly, and Sebastian knew she believed his lie. "Come along now, Abigail, Ermalinda will show you out."   
\par \tab Abigail sees she is helpless in this situation and walks out. "But didn't yesterday mean anything? You don't sleep with someone and then just ditch them...."  
\par \tab "Goodby  
e Abigail." Sebastian says practically pushing her away. He shuts the door behind her. "Sorry about that. That was one of my sister's friends. You never know who's going to turn up at your door. It's a good thing my family is switching buildings. The secu  
rity really should be checked out."  
\par \tab Lila nods. "It's such a shame,really, to see people who are affected by alchohol like that."  
\par \tab Sebastian agrees. "Yes it is." Ermalinda brings out the trays on which the food are on. "Gratzie, Ermalinda."  
\par \tab "You know Italian?" Lila asks.  
\par \tab Sebastian responds,"Just a little. Ermalinda is from Italy so it helps her if we talk to her in Italian."  
\par \tab Lila smiles. "That's really nice. So who is this sister that you've mentioned once or twice? Like what's her name? I may know her."  
\par \tab "Kathryn Merteuil. She's my stepsister to be." Sebastian explains.  
\par \tab Lila nods. "Oh! That's Court Reynold's girlfriend."  
\par \tab "How did you know?" Sebastian asks.  
\par \tab Lila replies,"Oh Court and I go way back. We've been friends ever since we were little."  
\par \tab *How about that!* Sebastian thinks bitterly. Did everyone like the damned guy? He puts on a forced smile. "Yeah, he's a nice fellow," he answers as casually as possible.   
\par \tab Lila nods in agreement. "I haven't met Kathryn yet, but any girl that dates Court must be lovely."   
\par \tab "Oh yes, Kathryn is a lovely girl," Sebastian says ironically.   
\par \tab Lila smiles. "I would love to meet her sometime. Court raves on and on about her...he really adores her."   
\par \tab Though Sebastian wants to strangle the life out of Court, he decides this is the perfect opportunity to introduce his new "steady" girlfriend to Kathryn. "I think tomorrow would be great. To meet Kathryn, I mean."   
\par \tab Lila smiles. "I can't wait." She takes a bite out of her food. "Ermalinda is a really great cook."  
\par \tab "Yeah. She's been cooking for us ever since my mom left." Sebastian admits.  
\par \tab Lila sees the look on the face."Oh I'm sorry. Is your mom a bad topic?"  
\par \tab "I don't really like to talk about her. "Sebastian reveals.  
\par \tab Lila nods. "Okay. You go to Manchester,right?"  
\par \tab "Yeah. You don't, do you? Because practically everyone there knows everyone else and I would remember someone as beautiful as you." Sebastian comments.  
\par \tab Lila feels herself blushing again. "No actually I go to Forest Pines Academy. It's an all-girls school."  
\par \tab Sebast  
ian thinks to himself,*An all-girls school. She must have like no experience. Thus making her an even easier lay..* He wonders if he should try to get her into bed today. No...maybe it would seem much too straightforward, and she'd leave him in a heartbea  
t, which would not be good.   
\par \tab "Which results in my lack of a boyfriend," Lila continues, "Pity isn't it? But now that I've met you..." She lets her sentence trail off.   
\par \tab Sebastian looks up, almost hopefully. "I'm not so sure I know what you mean," he teases.  
\par \tab Lila smiles. "I don't know. I've never even been kissed." She says this so innocently and naively, Sebastian is incredulous.   
\par \tab "First kiss is said to be the best," Sebastian answers, edging towards her.   
\par \tab Lila replies,"Well, then I'll have to make sure it comes from a good person. Like you."  
\par \tab "That you will." Sebastian tells her as he gets closer to her. He gets close enough to kiss her, which he then does. For her first kiss, she wasn't bad at it. *Not bad at all* "You know, you're really good at that."  
\par \tab Lila asks innocently,"At what?"  
\par \tab "Kissing. I think you should do it more often." Sebastian tells her, implying himself.  
\par \tab Lila nods with a smile. "I think I should too." She then leans i  
n and kisses him, gradually getting more confident with it as they go along. She wraps her arms around Sebastian and pulls him down on top of her on the couch. After kissing for a while, Lila pulls back to take a breath. Sebastian, however, could have kep  
t at it for a while. "What time is it?" Lila asks.  
\par \tab Sebastian looks at the clock on the wall right in front of him. "Two o'clock. Why? Do you need to go?"  
\par \tab "Oh shoot. I'll be late if I don't hurry. I have to take my cat to the vet. If I'm late, I won't be able to get her in for another month." Lila explains.   
\par \tab Sebastian gets up off of her so that she can get up. "Well, if you leave me your number, I'll call you and we can work things out for that double date we had talked about."  
\par \tab Lila gets up. "Great. Do you have a pen and paper?"  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "Yeah. Why don't you come into my room? I have some in there."  
\par \tab "Okay."She follows Sebastian into his room and notices Abby's sunglasses. She doesn't comment on them because she doesn't want to ruin things with Seb  
astian. After he hands her a sheet of paper and a pen, she writes down her number. She hands it to him and they walk to the living room where she gets her bag. "I'll see you later."She tells him.   
\par \tab Sebastian walks her down and hails her a cab. He kisses her on the cheek before she gets in the cab. "I'll call you."  
\par \tab The cab drives off and Sebastian waits til it's out of view before he gets in his own car and heads to Kathryn's. He drives over there, above the speed limit as usual. As he walks into the apartment, he sees Tiffany  
. "Hello Mrs. Merteuil. How is my father?"  
\par \tab "Well, they are running some tests on him, but he should be fine. Just in case, I'm going to stay the night at the hospital. I gave Kathryn the number. If you could stay here tonight, and mak  
e sure she's alright, I'd really appreciate it. I'll be home at about 5 in the afternoon." Tiffany tells Sebastian.  
\par \tab *She obviously forgot how she found us in bed together.* Sebastian thinks to himself. "Of course I'll do that. Is it alright if Kathryn, Court, Lila, and I went on a picnic together tomorrow?"  
\par \tab "Sure! You all have fun."Tiffany tells him as she runs out of the apartment with her stuff.  
\par \tab Sebastian walks into Kathryn's room as soon as Tiffany is gone. "Hello Kathryn."  
\par \tab "Wow. You've been out all day. Anything exciting happen?" Kathryn asks.  
\par \tab Sebastian smiles to himself. "You could say that. Here you go." He hands her the prada bag with her handbag in it. "I had to get something when I went to Prada."  
\par \tab "Thanks. You didn't have to do that. But, why were you at Prada?" Kathryn questions.  
\par \tab Sebastian replies,"Well, it was there or Starbucks and I didn't want some drama queen girlfriend. Let's just say I've won the bet.By the way, how long do I have to go out with the girl for you to consider it steady?"  
\par \tab "Oh at least a week. You already found someone? You know I could have hooked you up with one of my moron girlfriends who wouldn't know better." Kathryn tells Sebastian.  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "Her name is Lila. Court, Lila, you, and me are going on a picnic  
together. Turns out Lila is good friends with Court. They've been friends since they were little. Lila's heard a lot about you. Obviously, Court is infatuated with you. And why shouldn't he? Practically all of the straight guys, including me, and some of  
the gay guys, including Blaine, are too."  
\par \tab Kathryn can't help but laugh. "I know. I'm quite charming."   
\par \tab "That you are," Sebastian agrees, with a grin.   
\par \tab "A picnic. Well. That should be interesting," Kathryn remarks. "So what's she like? Utter slut?"   
\par \tab Sebastian smirks. "You only wish. She's actually pretty classy. Somewhat on the clueless side, but not completely stupid nonetheless. She's a catch."   
\par \tab "Sure," Kathryn says skeptically. "I bet she doesn't know her head from her ass." She sticks a cigarette between her scarlet lips and lights it.   
\par \tab "Who's jealous now?" Sebastian teases.  
\par \tab Kathryn shoots him a glare. "I'm not jealous," she snaps. "I'm content with Court, no thanks to you trying to hit on me every chance you get." Sebastian holds his hand up,   
as if surrendering. Kathryn examines the Prada handbag, running her fingers along the delicate silk lining. "I hate this color," she says sweetly to Sebastian, tossing it back to him. "Did your girly-girl pick it out?"   
\par \tab Sebastian catches the handbag. "Could you tell?" he asks, honestly surprised.  
\par \tab Kathryn rolls her eyes. "You know me better than that Sebastian. That conservative wings-of-an-angel white color is passe. And so not me."   
\par \tab "Fine. I'll go give it to Abigail. She'd appreciate it. " Sebastian comments.  
\par \tab Kathryn pretends not to care and replies,"She appreciates any attention a guy gives her."  
\par \tab "That's better than being such a damn tease." Sebastian responds in a sharp tone.  
\par \tab Kathryn makes a face like she's hurt. She says sarcastically, "Ouch Sebastian. That hurt."  
\par \tab "Good." Sebastian comments. He makes a move to leave and then pulls something out of his pocket. "Oh, here, next time you see Abigail, give these to her. She left them in my room when she came over as you recall." He then starts walking   
towards the door.  
\par \tab Kathryn calls after him sarcastically, "Oh no, you don't hate me now, do you Sebastian? I don't think I could live with that."   
\par \tab Sebastian pauses at the doorway, but doesn't turn around. "Funny."   
\par \tab Kathryn rolls her eyes. "C'mon, Sebastian. We're both committed to other people. Get over it. Quit taking what I say so personally. It was nice of you to get me that handbag, I admit."   
\par \tab "I only got it so I would have a reason to be in Prada," Sebastian answers.  
\par \tab "Don't deny it, Sebastian...you were thinking of lil ol me," teases Kathryn. She smirks. "Abby called me before you arrived. Pulled that "you-must-be-drunk" gag on her, did you? She was so bewildered."   
\par \tab "Yeah, well your friend has the habit of showing up at the worst possible moment," Sebastian retorts. "What a pain in the ass she is."   
\par \tab "That'd be funny if she showed up at the picnic," laughs Kathryn.   
\par \tab "Hey! Don't joke about that," Sebastian warns.   
\par \tab * * *   
\par \tab "You look lovely, Kathryn," Court gushes, kissing her hand. They were all gathered under a massive oak tree in Central Park the next afternoon, sprawled out on blankets, and eating food that Ermalinda had prepared for them.  
\par \tab "Thank you," Kathryn answers, with a satisfied smile.  
\par \tab Sebastian could almost puke. He hated watching them be so lovey-dovey. He glanced at Lila, who was looking stunning herself--but next to Kathryn, she was just about as attractive as Ermalinda, which wasn't very attractive.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles over at Lila. "I don't think we've been introduced quite yet. I'm Kathryn."  
\par \tab "Lila. I've heard so many wonderful things about you from Court." Lila tells Kathryn with a smile.  
\par \tab Kathryn replies,"Likewise. What school do you go to? Forest Pines Academy, right?"  
\par \tab "Yeah. My parents don't like co-educational schools. " Lila explains as she rolls her eyes at the last part.  
\par \tab Kathryn sighs in sympathy. "That must be horrible. But at least you know Court. I'm sure he's hooked you up with some of his friends before."  
\par \tab "Well, his friends and I haven't gotten along so well. But he's tried." Lila replies with a laugh.   
\par \tab Kathryn thinks to herself,*How Sebastian picked this girl is beyond me. Anyone with a brain can tell she's an annoying half-wit.* "Do you know Isabel Roschetti? She'll be a junior this year."  
\par \tab Lila nods. "Yeah. We're good friends."  
\par \tab "She's a real sweetie, isn't she?" Kathryn asks with a smile.  
\par \tab Lila agrees. "Oh! What did you think of that bag Sebastian bought for you?"  
\par \tab "It was so thoughtful of him to buy me something. I liked it. I hear that's where you and Sebastian met." Kathryn says.  
\par \tab "Yeah. At first I was surprised to see a guy in Prada but then he said he was buying a present for his sister." Lila responds.  
\par \tab Court asks,"What was the occasion?" He didn't like the thought of Sebastian buying presents for Kathryn. It only meant one thing. That he was trying to get her in bed with him.   
\par \tab "It was her birthday," Sebastian replies casually, and shoots Kathryn a look, as if to urge her to play along. As if she had a reason to. He hoped she would save him there though.   
\par \tab Court's eyes widen. "It was your birthday?!" he exclaims incredulously. "Oh God, I just...I just like forgot! Why didn't you tell me?"   
\par \tab Sebastian almost bursted out laughing at that guy's astonishment. Instead, Lila laughed for him, smacking Court playfully on the shoulder. "Goodness, you don't even remember your own girlfriend's birthday!" she teased.   
\par \tab Kathryn fixes Sebastian with a pleasant smile, though he can see right through it--she's obviously a bit pissed of not being informe  
d that yesterday was supposedly her birthday. "I don't like making a big deal out of my birthday," Kathryn says to Court, still smiling at Sebastian, though her eyes were shooting bullets.  
\par \tab "Well! How modest of you," Court says, with such admiration it made Sebastian feel like regurgitating his sandwiches and wine.   
\par \tab Kathryn laughs and smiles at Court. She takes his hand in hers, a gesture which makes Sebastian want to gag even more. She takes a sip of her sparkling water. "You know what would be great on a hot day like this?"  
\par \tab "What?" Court asks with a smile knowing her response.  
\par \tab Kathryn replies,"Some ice cream. Or something frozen. Since you and Lila brought the picnic, the least Sebastian and I could do is go get you two something."  
\par \tab Court nods. "That's my Kathryn. Always thinking about other people." Lila smiles as does Court.  
\par \tab Kathryn gets up and releases Court's hand so that she can go get their frozen desserts. "What would you like Court?"  
\par \tab "A cup of vanilla ice cream. Lila, what are you going to get?" Court responds.  
\par \tab Lila thinks. "Umm... a cone with chocolate frozen yogurt."  
\par \tab "Alright. We'll be right back." Kathryn promises with a smile to Court. Sebastian gets up as well and they walk over to the nearest Haagen-Daaz vendor. "Sebastian, you really  
should pay more attention to Lila. Poor dear. You're not paying any attention to her and she is supposed to be your girlfriend. Act more like Court."  
\par \tab "Act like Court? All that gushing and lovey-dovey talk is making me sick." Sebastian responds with a gagging face.  
\par \tab They reach the stand and Kathryn tells Sebastian, "Well, you could at least look like you were having a good time. Picnics aren't for sour grapes you know."  
\par \tab "Ah. The infinite words of wisdom from Kathryn."Sebastian comments sarcastically.  
\par \tab Kathryn rolls her eyes. "Shut up Sebastian and order. After all, you are paying." She smiles innocently at him.  
\par \tab Sebastian places the order and Kathryn takes Court and her's desserts while Sebastian takes his and Lila's.  
\par \tab ~*~*Meanwhile*~*~  
\par \tab Lila tells Court,"I really like Kathryn. She's very sweet. Can you believe that her and Sebastian are related? They seem different. In a good way."  
\par \tab Court replies,"Well Kathryn and Sebastian aren't fully related until their parents get married. Do you actually like Sebastian? Because you know, he isn't the nicest guy around. The only reason I can stand him is that he's Kathryn's brother to be."  
  
\par \tab Lila nods. "I really do. I mean, he's sweet, funny, and unlike your friends, hasn't tried to maul me on the first date." Her face brightens up immediately. "Look they're back."  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles as they reach the blanket under the tree. "Miss us?" she asks teasingly.  
\par \tab "Incredibly." Court tells her as he kisses her on the cheek.  
\par \tab Kathryn giggles. "You are too sweet."  
\par \tab Sebastian is inwardly gagging but he decided if he wanted to keep Lila he would have to be nicer. He hands her the ice cream cone she had wanted.  
\par \tab "Thanks for getting this for me." Lila comments.  
\par \tab Sebastian smiles at her. "No problem. Anything for you."  
\par \tab Lila blushes and giggles. She kisses him on the cheek, when her frozen yogurt drops right off the cone and lands in the grass. She notices and says,"Ooops. I'm never this clutzy. Must be you." She winks at him.  
\par \tab Sebastian gets up and takes her hand and helps her up. "Here. We'll go get you another one."  
\par \tab Lila gets up, with Sebastian's help and follows him to the ice cream stand.  
\par \tab Sebastian slides his hand easily into hers, and Lila smiles, obviously pleased. They stroll off together to get Lila another ice c  
ream. Kathryn watches them, feeling a stab of--jealousy was it?--no, it couldn't be. Kathryn Merteuil was *never* jealous of anyone, she made sure of that. She also made sure, in her mind, she was the girl everyone wished they could be. She feels herself   
smile, satisfied.  
\par \tab "I hope you don't mind me bringing up the topic," Court says, "but I'm a little concerned about leaving Lila in the hands of Sebastian. Aren't you? I mean, I know he's your brother, but..."   
\par \tab Kathryn knows she can ruin Sebastian's relatio  
nship with Lila right here and now, but she feels its much too fun tormenting him, making him be all mushy in her presence. "Oh, don't worry, Court. I know Sebastian. He won't hurt her." *What a crock of shit* Kathryn thinks, *Of course Sebastian will hur  
t her. Naturally*.   
\par \tab Court didn't look completely convinced, but convinced enough not to question the subject anymore. He smiles, running his fingers along her cheek. "You look so beautiful."   
\par \tab Before Kathryn can answer, Sebastian and Lila return, talking and laughing.   
\par \tab Sebastian asks,"We didn't miss anything did we?"  
\par \tab "Well..."Court starts jokingly.  
\par \tab Kathryn finishes,"We were just talking about you, Sebastian."  
\par \tab "Good things I hope." Sebastian comments.  
\par \tab Kathryn questions with a incredulous look,"There are good things?" She laughs to show that her and Court are just joking around. Court laughs with Kathryn.  
\par \tab Lila obviously doesn't get it but she laughs anyways.   
\par \tab Kathryn asks Lila,"So you work at Prada, right?"  
\par \tab "Yeah. It's a nice store and it's well paying. My parents said I had to get a job. Teaching me responsibility and stuff, you know?" Lila responds.  
\par \tab Kathryn's never had to get a job. Her parents had so much money she had no need for one. Her parents already thought she had plenty of responsibility. Af  
ter all, she basically grew up teaching herself how to live since no one was ever home. But Kathryn didn't want to cause a conflict in the conversation so she replied,"Yeah. I know exactly what you mean. Prada's my favorite store, so I suppose if I were t  
o work, I would work there. Actually I'd probably work somewhere where you wouldn't have to deal with annoying customers."  
\par \tab Lila laughs. "There are plenty of those everywhere."  
\par \tab Court says,"We'd better go. We don't want to be late."  
\par \tab "Late? Where are you guys going?" Lila asks, interested.  
\par \tab Kathryn replies,"We are going to see a French Film at the Anjelika Film Center. "  
\par \tab "Do either of you know French?" Lila asks, since she knew none.  
\par \tab Kathryn responds,"I'm fluent in the language. I was born in Paris and we have family over there. That's where my father lives."  
\par \tab Lila was impressed. "Wow."   
\par \tab "Yeah, that's Kathryn. So sophisticated," Sebastian remarks jokingly. "I don't speak a bit of French. I find the English language enough to juggle."   
\par \tab Lila laughs. Court laughs, too, but Sebastian can tell it's put on. "Well the picnic was fun," Court says, standing up, and extending his hand towards Kathryn to help her up. "We should do it again."  
\par \tab "That would be great," Lila answers. "It was nice meeting you, Kathryn."   
\par \tab "And you," Kathryn replies.   
\par \tab "See ya, Sebastian," Court says in obvious attempt to be friendly, and Sebastian is tempted to say something truly cruel to him, but restrains himself in Lila's presence.  
\par \tab "Yeah, it was a blast, see ya, m  
an," Sebastian replies, trying to sound enthusiastic, but with no such luck. Court gives him a funny look. Then he and Kathryn leave. Finally. Sebastian turns back to Lila. "What do you say we go for a walk?" he suggests.   
\par \tab Lila smiles,"That would be wonderful. " Lila gets up, with Sebastian's help. "So how long have you known Court?"  
\par \tab "Well, I would say probably ever since we were little. We go to Manchester together and are in the same grade."Sebastian replies.  
\par \tab Lila asks,"You two don't seem to like each other very much. I mean, I sensed some tension between you two. "  
\par \tab "We don't get along so well. "Sebastian admits. "But we can tolerate each other."  
\par \tab "That's good. That you can tolerate each other. " Lila comments.   
\par \tab Sebastian takes Lila's hand in his to show how considerate and sweet he can be. Lila smiles at him. "I don't know why Court was making such a big deal about us going out."  
\par \tab Sebastian looks at Lila strangely. "He was? What did he say?"  
\par \tab "That you would do anything to get girls in bed with you." Lila explains.  
\par \tab Sebastian pretends to look shocked. "That's not true. He's just jealous because his last girlfriend dumped him for me."  
\par \tab Lila nods. "Ok. I didn't believe him anyway. I mean you are so sweet, cute, funny, and everything he said you weren't."  
\par \tab Sebastian smiles at her and kisses her. "Though he is right..."  
\par \tab "What do you mean?"Lila asks.  
\par \tab Sebastian responds,"You're far too good to be with someone like me."  
\par \tab Lila just blushes and giggles."Come on, Sebastian. I'm not some little angel. I've committed my share of sins, you know." \tab   
This intrigues--and amuses--Sebastian. "Oh yeah? Like what?" he implores, holding her close to him, while she just erupts into a bundle of giggling cuteness like some sort of Tickle-Me-Elmo. He rolls his eyes at the thought.   
\par \tab "I'm not a virgin, you know."   
\par \tab Oooh. Well. That did it. He wanted to head straight home and knock that girl up. "So who was the lucky guy?" he jokes. \tab Lila giggles again, obviously tickled pink by this oh-so-dangerous topic. "Well you can't tell anyone...but it was Court."   
\tab Sebastian feels his jaw drop open, and the sudden urge to explode into hysterical fits of laughter. But he manages not to do so, and just laughs. "You're kidding me, right? *Court*? Didn't think the guy had it in him." All right  
, so Court wasn't a fag after all.   
\par \tab Lila giggles. "I'm serious. But it probably doesn't help that I'm laughing up a storm here."   
\par \tab Sebastian asks Lila,"So what would you like to do?"  
\par \tab "Well, what did you have in mind?" Lila asks innocently, not knowing what Sebastian was thinking.  
\par \tab Sebastian grins. "Well, Kathryn had mentioned that we could go on a boat ride later today after their movie. Should be fun."  
\par \tab "That sounds wonderful. " Lila responds having calmed down a lot.  
\par \tab ~*~*Time*~*~  
\par \tab Sebastian helps Lila onto the boat and sees Kathryn and Court. Lila walks over to Court and Kathryn, accompanied by Sebastian. "How was the movie?" Lila asks.  
\par \tab "It was great. Very touching."Kathryn replies.   
\par \tab Lila smiles. "That's wonderful. "  
\par \tab Sebastian tells Lila,"You know what? I'm going to show you the lower level of the boat." He smiles at her.  
\par \tab Kathryn grins to herself, knowing full well what Sebastian intended to do down there. "You two behave yourselves." She tells them jokingly.  
\par \tab Sebastian rolls his eyes and ignores Kathryn leading Lila downstairs.  
\par \tab Kathryn looks at Court,"I know what you're thinking. They'll be fine. Besides, I'm sure Sebastian wouldn't do anything Lila didn't want to do."  
\par \tab "Yeah," Court says dubiously, since he knows Lila well - more than Kathryn knows. And he knows Sebastian, and exactly what Sebastian wants from Lila.   
\par \tab "Come on, you're here to have fun with me, not to baby-sit those two," Kathryn says, tugging his arms and wrapping them around her waist. "We can have just as much fun as them." She moves her face inches away from Court's.  
\par \tab Court looks down at her, moving his face closer, until irritatingly familiar monosyllabic giggles distract him. He pulls away.   
\par \tab "Fuck," mutters Kathryn under her breath.  
\par \tab Court looks down towards the lower level. "Shouldn't we check on them? I mean, really, Lila's parents have asked me watch over her..."   
\par \tab *To watch over her*? Kathryn thinks, forcing back a smirk. Jeez, so was Court *indebted* to this stupid bundle of giggles? She rolled her ey  
es, but put on a fake, cheerful smile. "That's sweet, Court. You're like her guardian," Kathryn says, though she inwardly wants to puke at the thought.  
\par \tab Court snaps out of his little "must-protect-Lila" trance, and smiles sheepishly. "Ah. Sorry. I know. That's stupid," he said. "She's like a little sister to me, I suppose."   
\par \tab "Mmmm." Kathryn moves closer to him, just ignoring his pointless chitchat. "Now where were we?" She grins, wrapping her arms around him.   
\par \tab Court smiles,"Right about here." He starts to kiss her, which Kathryn openly accepts. They move to a bench while kissing as to not block anyone from walking around on the boat. Kathryn makes it so that she is on Court's lap while kissing him.  
\par \tab "Mmmmm..."Kathryn murmurs as they continue kissing. The kisses are growing deeper and deeper, until Kathryn hears a familiar squeal.  
\par \tab "Kathryn! Hi! How are you?" Abigail squeals.  
\par \tab Kathryn inwardly rolls her eyes. "Hi Abby. What are you doing here? I thought you went out of town."  
\par \tab "Oh, travel plans got canceled. It's so good to see a familiar face here." Abigail tells her. "Did you let Sebastian know that I was pissed at him for what he did to me in front of that girl?"  
\par \tab Kathryn nods and whispers to Court,"It was nothing." She says aloud,"Yeah. He shouldn't bother you anymore."  
\par \tab "Good. Thanks. You can get Sebastian to do anything, can't you? I mean with you two being so *close* and all. Speaking of that, why are you here with Court, if you are going out with Sebastian?" Abigail asks.  
\par \tab Kathryn glares at her. "Abigail, I'm not going out with Sebastian. I don't know what put that into your head. Can I help it if Sebastian has the hots for me?"  
\par \tab "So you're just sleeping with him?" Abigail asks.  
\par \tab Kathryn's eyes are shooting daggers. "I am not sleeping with Sebastian. I  
may have kissed him once or twice before I found out our parents were getting married and before Court and I started going out so I have no clue as to what you are talking about. Have you been drinking again? You really ought to try and fix that problem.  
"  
\par \tab "Why does everyone think I've been *drinking*?!" Abby demands, incredulous, bewildered, and openly confused all at once.   
\par \tab Court gives her a funny look, then glances at Kathryn. He looks confused as well. "What's going on?" he asks, in a low murmur.   
\par \tab Kathryn shakes her head, putting on a confident smile. "Don't worry," she insists, though she wanted to strangle the life out of Abby for popping up like an insane jack-in-the-box.   
\par \tab "You and Sebastian are an item, is that it?" Court continues to prod, looking rather wounded and angry.   
\par \tab "No! I mean. No. No, Court. I'm with you now. You know that," Kathryn protests, hating to have to plead like this. \tab "Am I intruding?" Abby asks, so unaware of the damage she had just done.  
\par \tab *What gave you first fucking clue, bitch?!* Kathryn thinks, severely peeved. With all the charm and sunshine she can manage despite her anger, she smiles at Abby. "Join us, if you please," she answers, as pleasantly as possible.  
\par \tab Abby responds,"Umm...this seems to be a bad time. I'll leave. I'll catch you later Kathryn." She walks off.  
\par \tab "Look Court, the last time Abby saw me, I had been dating Sebastian for about a month. Which is why she thought that I was still with him. Oh and like a few days ago, Sebas  
tian and I went to pick up his tux and my dress for our parents wedding. Nothing is going on between us. " Kathryn tells Court. Court had to believe her. If something like this got out about her, her reputation would be ruined.  
\par \tab Court looks at Kathryn. He   
seems to be studying her. Court isn't sure whether or not to believe Kathryn. He wants to. He really wants to. He decided to tell her what he thought,"I believe you. This is kind of hard for me, since out of everyone I've dated, I care about you the most   
and I don't want to lose you. I love you."  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles. He was head over heels for her and this is exactly where she wanted him. "That is so sweet." She wipes a tear from her eye, which she had produced. "I love you too." She had said that before. And n  
ever meant it. She still didn't mean it. Love was for wimps. She kissed Court on the cheek.   
\par \tab Court smiles, thinking that Kathryn truly cared for him. He kissed her gently on the lips. "We'll be getting off soon. What do you say we go find Lila and Sebastian?"  
\par \tab Kathryn nods. "Okay." They walk down on the lower level off the boat and knock on one of the doors looking for Sebastian and Lila. They open the door and you can tell by the way they were fixing their clothes and hair that they had just done it. Kath  
ryn smiles to herself. She tells them,"We're approaching land so we thought you might want to come on deck. That is if you aren't too busy and we didn't interrupt you."  
\par }{\f2\cgrid0 \tab }{\fs24\cgrid0 "Of course not, interrupt away," Sebastian says, and wipes Lila's cranberry frost lips  
tick off of his mouth. Damn! The name of her lipstick shade sounded yummy, but it tasted as bad as scum scraped off the bottom of a hobo's shoe. Not that Sebastian would know from personal experience. He was repulsed at the thought.  
\par \tab Lila had a dazed, sheepish expression on her face, and Kathryn concluded Sebastian had probably knocked her up. She shook her head. "Well, did you both have a good time?" she asks.   
\par \tab "Was that Abigail Kent up there?" Lila inquires. "I thought I heard her voice."   
\par \tab Great. Abby had been there. That annoying little pest. She was like a venomous South African fly in Sebastian eyes. She poisoned everyone in her presence. He smirked at his clever analogy.   
\par \tab "Yeah, it was," Court answers, "Interesting girl." He looked rather bewildered, Sebastian noted. He figured Abby was acting stupid as usual.   
\par \tab "You know her alcohol problem makes her act so strangely, isn't that right Sebastian?" Kathryn says, glancing at him, fixing a stern gaze on him that no one else noticed.  
\par \tab "Yeah, she can be a drunk little bitch sometimes," Sebastian agrees, and Lila looks mortified, so he re-phrases quickly, "I mean...she can be drunken like a little witch sometimes." Lila giggles, in relief almost.   
\par \tab "Uh, right," Court says, confused.   
\par \tab "I feel sick," Kathryn says suddenly.   
\par \tab They all look at her. Court's eyes were full of concern. "Are you seasick?" he asks, gently. Sebastian smirks.  
\par \tab "I think so," Kathryn says, covering her mouth as if she's about to barf any minute now. "I'm sorry if this interferes with our plans, Court," she continues, pretending to be apologetic.   
\par \tab "No, no, of course not. Some other time, perhaps."  
\par \tab "Thank you for understanding." Frankly, Kathryn was sick of being in the presence of perky little Lila and dishelved Sebastian with that   
cranberry lipstick smeared on his face. Besides, she wanted the details of what Sebastian did with Lila. So she could destroy the girl and win their bet.   
\par \tab "I'll take you home," Sebastian volunteers.   
\par \tab Kathryn smiles weakly. "Thank you. Court, you'll make sure Lila gets home, right?"  
\par \tab "Of course. I'll call you later." Court tells Kathryn.  
\par \tab Kathryn kisses him on the cheek and they all walk up to the deck. Kathryn follows Sebastian off the ship taking his hand as help to get off the ship. She was still doing   
the sick act. They walk to Sebastian's car and get in it in silence. Kathryn waits until they are out of view to start talking. She drops the sick act. "So did you fuck her?"  
\par \tab "Wouldn't you like to know? Actually, I have something more interesting that what I did with dear Lila. Turns out, she isn't a virgin. But that's not the interesting part." Sebastian informs Kathryn.  
\par \tab Kathryn is intrigued,"What is it?"  
\par \tab "She lost it to Court." Sebastian responds.  
\par \tab Kathryn laughs. "Looks like Court gets to all your girls first. So anyway, what was Lila like in bed? Court and I both know she enjoyed it since we did hear her giggling."  
\par \tab "Well you know all that energy she has? Well it shows in bed." Sebastian replies.  
\par \tab   
Kathryn rolls her eyes. "Thanks for that lovely mental picture. You know how Abby showed up? Well, she almost wrecked things between Court and I. Oh, if Court happens to ask you about our past together, we were going out for a month before we broke up."  
  
\par \tab "And we never slept together? Like Court would buy that I kept my hands off of you for a month." Sebastian comments.  
\par \tab Kathryn takes a tissue out of her purse and gently wipes the lipstick off of his face. "Court trusts me, so he'll believe it if I say so.Besides I never told him we didn't."  
\par \tab "How can girls wear lipstick?" Sebastian remarked as Kathryn wiped the lipstick off. "It tastes like shit."   
\par \tab Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Well, our tough little Sebastian isn't so manly after all," she teases. "You and y  
our lover girl could've been more discreet about it. It was excruciating listening to Lila giggle. It's possibly the most annoying thing ever next to Macy Gray's voice."   
\par \tab Sebastian laughs. "So why'd you fake sick, huh?"   
\par \tab "Court was getting so damned curious. He was turning into a cop on me, asking all these questions about us," Kathryn commented. "And Abby...God that girl has a way of fucking things up."   
\par \tab "You really should get rid of her," Sebastian remarks, as they drive home.  
\par \tab Kathryn smirks. "You know Abby just won't disappear like that. Nothing gets through that thick skull of hers. She's always asking questions. Pisses me off."   
\par \tab As they pull up, Sebastian notices a hideous Camaro parked alongside the curb. "Ugh!" he spats out in disgust. "Yuck! That thing is a monstrosity!"  
\par \tab Kathryn frowns. "That monstrosity belongs to Abby..."   
\par \tab Just then, Abby emerges from the driver's side. "Hi, guys!" she says. "I just thought I'd drop by to get my sunglasses. You know, Ermalinda could give them to me."  
\par \tab "Don't be silly. Why don't you come up and get them? We were headed up there and you could come with us." Kathryn tells Abby with a forced smile.  
\par \tab Abby giggles. "Okay." They walk into the apartment building and into Sebastian's room. "Kathryn, I feel like we're not friends anymore. We never talk, go shopping together, have sleep overs, or anything. I miss you."  
\par \tab "You miss me?"Kathryn asks. *Stupid lesbian bitch.* "That is soo sweet. But see recently I went through something horrible and need some alone time. Onl  
y Court seems to make me feel better, so if I could get some alone time I think that would be best. Do you understand?" Kathryn's cell phone starts to ring. "Excuse me." She walks off into the guest bedroom and picks up the phone after shutting the door   
behind her. "Hello."  
\par \tab "Hello Kathryn." the voice mysteriously says.  
\par \tab Kathryn doesn't like the tone of the voice,"Who is it?"  
\par \tab "Someone."the voice replies cryptically.  
\par \tab Kathryn is already annoyed. "Look, if you don't tell me who you are I'll call the police."  
\par \tab "That's no good. They wouldn't get there in time to find your pretty little dead body." The voice informs Kathryn and hangs up.  
\par \tab Kathryn is starting to get paranoid. She quickly runs into the room Abigail and Sebastian are. She forgets that Abigail is   
in there and runs to Sebastian tears quickly forming in her eyes. She wraps her arms around him and starts to sob. "Not again."she murmurs to herself.  
\par \tab Abby raises an eyebrow, in amusement and bewilderment. "What's going on?" she demands, crossing her arms. \tab Sebastian looks at Kathryn crying hysterically in his arms, rather confused. "Huh? What is it? What's wrong? Who called?"   
\par \tab "I don't know!" Kathryn screams in between sobs.   
\par \tab Abby's defiance melts away, and she stands next to Sebastian, who's holding Kathryn, and puts her hand on Kathryn's shoulder. "It's not another one of those calls, is it?" she asks, rather knowingly.   
\par \tab Kathryn was aware that Abby knew of phone calls jealous people sometimes sent Kathryn's way...but this was different. "No, no," Kathryn mutters, "It's worse. It's worse. They threatened to kill me!"   
\par \tab Sebastian's jaw dropped open. "What?" he demands, in astonishment. "What kind of sick fuck would do that?"   
\par \tab Abby sits down. "Well it's happened a lot, Sebastian. Prank calls. But none like this." She glances at Kathryn.   
\par \tab "Gee, thanks for the 411," Sebastian snaps bitterly. "Kathryn, maybe it's nothing. Maybe they just dialed the wrong number."   
\par \tab Kathryn pulls away abruptly. "Nothing?" she scoffs. "Sure. I'm just getting all hysterical and whiny over NOTHING!" She glares at Abby, then fixes her glare on Sebastian.  
\par \tab "Hey, hey..." Sebastian says gently, pulling her back into an embrace again. Kathry  
n just bursts into more sobs. Abby just sits there. "It's gonna be okay. We'll find out who's behind this." Sebastian picks up the phone and dials *69, waiting for a number to surface. When someone picks up the phone, Sebastian gently releases Kathryn an  
d  
lays her back against the couch. He didn't want Kathryn to hear what he had to say to whoever this sick fuck was and so he walked into his room, leaving Abigail to comfort Kathryn. "Look, I don't know who you think you are but neither I, nor Kathryn, app  
r  
eciate your phone calls and if you know what's good for you, you will stay the fuck away from her. You don't know who or even want to know who you are messing with. If you even go near her, I will personally see to it that your ass is kicked. You will be   
beaten so badly that your own mother won't recognize you. Do you understand?"  
\par \tab The stalker responds,"Don't even try me. I know how far you'll go to protect your little girlfriend. That little bitch shot me and she is going down. I don't even know why you c  
are for her so much."He spits out the last part. "She doesn't care for you at all. You're just a toy to her."  
\par \tab "Don't you ever talk like that, you bastard. You need to be locked up you deadbeat, low-life, motherfucker. You don't even know Kathryn. "Sebastian yells to the phone.  
\par \tab The stalker answers,"I wouldn't be so sure about that. "  
\par \tab Sebastian hears a click. "Damnit!" he yells to the phone.  
\par \tab ~~~~Meanwhile~~~~  
\par \tab Kathryn, between sniffles,asks Abigail,"Is everything going to be ok?"  
\par \tab "Of course it is. You have Sebastian taking care of it. He's buff enough to knock the shit out of the guy." Abigail replies comfortingly.   
\par \tab Kathryn smiles weakly. About as much as a girl can who is being stalked. "Look, you won't tell anyone about this will you? I mean, running right into Sebastian's arms isn't exactly the best thing for my reputation..."  
\par \tab "Of course not Kat. I mean you just wanted someone strong to protect you and you weren't doing anything wrong." Abby replies meaning every word she said.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles. "Than  
ks. I don't know what I'm going to do tonight." She puts her hands in her face. "I mean I don't know how I'm going to be able to sleep tonight knowing I have a stalker. I'm not going to want to be alone. I am going to want someone to curl up to and I can'  
t think of anyone. Court is at the hospital tonight. His sister just had a baby."  
\par "Are you going to tell Court about the stalker?" asks Abigail.   
\par \tab Kathryn shrugs. "I don't know. I don't particularily want to. He seems understanding, but of course he'd shoot his mouth off to Little Miss Sunshine, and then it'd circulate all over the fucking neighborhood."  
\par \tab "Little Miss Sun--oh...You mean Lila," mumbles Abigail.   
\par \tab Just then, Sebastian appears at the doorway, looking very very peeved and frustrated.   
\par \tab "Who was it?" Kathryn asks anxiously, dying to know, but at the same time not really wanting to know. She had never been so scared.  
\par \tab "Don't know. The ass has caller-ID block. Couldn't get his number," Sebastian says, and sits down on an armchair across from Kathryn and Abigail.   
\par \tab "Maybe we should call the cops?" Abigail suggests. "They can trace that kind of thing. And maybe protect Kathryn."   
\par \tab "What could that bastard's motive be?" Sebastian muses aloud, as if he hadn't heard Abigail speak.  
\par \tab "Yeah, well, the guy said if I called the police and got them into this, I'd be dead. It'd be 'much too late'," Kathryn snaps, imitating the hauntingly deep voice.  
\par \tab "Then we sure as hell can't stay here where he'll find you," Sebastian remarks. "C'mon. Let's go to the Plaza. We'll stay there overnight."  
\par \tab "We're gonna stay at a hotel?" whines Kathryn. "Geez! The stalker can track those sort of things! Any credit card that registers under my name. Or yours." She rolls her eyes. "Then it'll be *so* Alfred Hithcock.   
Watch me get murdered when I'm in the *fucking* shower!"  
\par \tab "Use my credit card," Abigail suggests.   
\par \tab "Fine then," Sebastian agrees. He intertwines his hand in Kathryn's, pulling her up. "It'll be okay," he assures her. "Pack whatever you need for an overnight stay and let's go. We'll decide how to handle the rest later."   
\par \tab Kathryn nods. "Okay." She walks into her room and Abigail follows her to help her pack. Kathryn pulls out a medium sized black suitcase. She packs whatever she could think of that she would need. "Thanks..."  
\par \tab "For what?" Abigail asks in her little ditz filled way.  
\par \tab Kathryn refrains from rolling her eyes and finishes,"For letting us use your credit card and everything. Also, for like just being here and helping me."  
\par \tab "Not a problem." Abigail replies with a smile. "I know if the situation was reversed you'd be doing the same for me."   
\par \tab Kathryn asks,"You're staying the night at the hotel with us, right?"  
\par \tab "Only if you want me to." Abigal responds.  
\par \tab Kathryn answers that with, "Well of course I do. The more people I'm with, the better." She finishes packing and starts to walk out with Abigail when she sees her mother. "Hi Mom."  
\par \tab "Where are you going? And why are you here?"Tiffany asks, not rudely but concerned.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles. "Abby and I are going to stay over at our friend Lila's house. We were closer to here than we were to home so we decided we'd stop by and get my stuff here instead of driving farther away to get my stuff. We didn't want to make  
Lila wait."  
\par \tab That seemed like a good enough explanation for Tiffany Merteuil. Until she got the whole having stuff at the Valmont's place. "How come you had stuff here?"  
\par \tab "Mom, of course I'm going to have stuff here. After all, Sebastian's my step-brothe  
r and thought I should have some things over here in case one night when we were on a family outing we stayed here late and stayed the night." Kathryn comes up with quickly.   
\par \tab "Oh I understand. You two have fun." Tiffany replies.  
\par \tab Kathryn then asks,"Why are *you* here?"  
\par \tab "Edward is coming home tonight. He was released from the hospital early this morning." Tiffany explains.  
\par \tab "Oh. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. " She kisses her mom on the cheek and Kathryn, Sebastian,and Abby leave for the hotel.  
\par \tab ~~~~Time~~~~  
\par \tab   
Kathryn had changed into her lacy, silk nightgown and got ready to go to sleep after they had been at the hotel for a while. They had gotten a room with two beds, since they all found no reason for a overly-nice room for one hotel room. Kathryn wasn't  
up to that anyways. She was trying to figure out the bed arrangement since she knew for sure Abby and Sebastian would be in different beds. However she couldn't decide which bed she would be in. She knew it would probably be more *right* if she slept in   
t  
he same bed as Abby, yet she wanted to be in bed with Sebastian since she felt like she needed his strong arms to protect her. She decided to sleep with Sebastian knowing Abby would probably understand. She walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom saw  
Abby, looking asleep in her bed, and Sebastian sitting on his bed watching tv. Kathryn sat right next to him.   
\par \tab Sebastian immediately whispers to Kathryn,"No way. There is no way I am sleeping with Abigail just so you can have your own bed."  
\par \tab Kathryn laughs to herself. "You're not. You're sleeping with me. Besides, I need a strong, muscular man who can protect me. Feel up to it?"  
\par \tab "But what will Abby think?" Sebastian asks in a whisper.  
\par \tab Kathryn answers, without bothering to whisper,"Who cares what she thin  
ks? The little ditz is asleep already and if you haven't noticed she's taking up the whole damn bed. Couldn't go there even if I wanted to. Which I don't. I'd rather be with you. You know that." Kathryn kisses him softly on the lips.  
\par \tab "I won't question that..." Sebastian murmurs, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back. Some foreign film on TV blares out long, winding, complicated Russian sentences.   
\par \tab Abigail, who had been sleeping on the other bed, rolls over, and groans. Sebastian and Kathryn a  
bruptly stop kissing, both looking in her direction, a 'deer-caught-in-the-headlights' expression on both of their faces. Abigail mumbles, still in some sort of sleepy trance, "I washed the dishes, Mom, I swear...check the dishwasher..."   
\par \tab Rolling his eyes, Sebastian continues kissing Kathryn, deeper, and deeper...   
\par \tab All of a sudden, there's a knock on the door. Startled, Kathryn instinctively shoves Sebastian off of her, sending him toppling over the side of the bed and on to the floor. "Damn!" he exclaims, startled, tangled in bed sheets.   
\par \tab Kathryn laughs; he looks so silly - yet so sweet... "I'll get the door." A bit pissed at this interruption, she peers through the peep hole to see a room service guy standing outside. Yanking open the door, Kathryn says  
with vicious, cunning cruelty, "Are you illiterate or something? The sign says 'do not disturb', dumbass. God." She makes a big scene of rolling her eyes in utter disgust.   
\par \tab Sputtering, the young room service fellow - no more than 18 years old - answers, "I...I was just delivering a letter, m-ma'am." He thrust a crisp, white envelope out towards Kathryn.   
\par \tab "Yeah okay. Well, next time just stick it under the door. When there is a do not disturb sign on this door, do not bother us unless the fucking Queen of  
England is here. Her or Jude Law. Got it?" Kathryn sneers not even bothering to give him a glance over. She takes the white envelope and slams the door on the boy.  
\par \tab Sebastian laughs at everything Kathryn had just said to the boy. "God, Kathryn I think you shocked him."  
\par \tab "Well, I just wanted to show him that even though I may not be here under my own name, I still should be treated like I would be if I was. It makes one think that they aren't too picky about who heres. Next thing you know Lila will work her  
e." Kathryn replies. She puts the envelope aside, thinking it's for Abigail and not her. "Abigail can sleep through anything so I think we should go back to what we were doing..."  
\par \tab Sebastian would love to do just that but was curious as to what was in the envelope and asks,"Aren't you going to open the thing that interrupted us?"  
\par \tab "Fine. But if it's an overdue payment notice for the Kent's, I'm going to scream." Kathryn states. She opens the white envelope. She immediately pales. "Oh my God..."  
\par \tab Sebastian sits up. "What is it?" he asks, peering over Kathryn's shoulder.   
\par \tab   
Kathryn waves the letter in Sebastian's face playfully. "Psyche! It's not *mine*. The back of the letter says 'room 616'. We're room 614. So it's not for me after all. Pity." She closes the envelope. "I knew that room service guy was a dumbass. Can't even  
count."   
\par \tab "Hold up, hold up," Sebastian says, grinning. "Aren't you the least bit curious as to what the contents of that letter are? I'll bet the letter is addressed to some big multi-millionaire fellah that's cheatin' on his butt ugly wife with a sexy su  
permodel right now, as we speak!" He glances towards the far wall.  
\par \tab Kathryn laughs. "I'll bet the letter is addressed to a girl, that has an incredibly good-looking stepbrother who watches over her with so much love and care..." she teases, giving Sebastian a flirty grin.  
\par \tab "I like that scenario better..." Sebastian edges towards her.   
\par \tab As Sebastian leans in for a kiss, Kathryn holds up the envelope between her face and his. "Just a sec," Kathryn says. "C'mon. Let's fulfill our curiousity."   
\par \tab "Well shucks," Sebastian says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He was *that* close to a kiss, was all that was running through his head.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles sweetly at him, and opens up the envelope. She pulls out a crisp, white letter, and reads aloud, "'Confidential. To  
Chuck V. From G. What kind of weapon do you prefer I use? Location of attempt - Merteuil home. Sound good? Meet me at the lobby tomorrow 10am.'" She pales. "What the fuck is this!?" she exclaims frightened, hurling the letter across the room as if it had  
just ignited into flames.   
\par \tab "Chuck V?" Sebastian echoes thoughtfully. "God. Edward. Chuck."   
\par \tab "No!" screams Kathryn, and she begins convulsing into tears, throwing herself in Sebastian's arms. "No, that can't be!" \tab Abigail wakes up at the sound of Kathryn's shrill outburst. "What? What happened?" she asks, startled.  
\par \tab "Don't worry," Sebastian says, ignoring Abigail. He hands Kathryn over to Abigail, who attempts to comfort her, and walks out into the hallway. He strolls next door, to room 616, and pounds h  
is fists furiously on the wooden door. "Open the fucking door."   
\par \tab Edward looks through the peep-hole and sees his son.He opens the door. "Sebastian, what do you want? You don't have to make such a commotion. I'm sure people are trying to sleep." Edward tells him calmly.  
\par \tab "Yeah, well I can think of at least one person who won't be able to sleep because of you."Sebastian replies narrowing his eyes at Edward. He walks in the room and shuts the door behind him. "Why are you doing all of this? Kathryn tried   
to tell her mother once and she didn't even believe her own daughter. You don't have to kill her."  
\par \tab Edward pretends he has no clue as to what Sebastian is saying. "What do you mean, kill her? I've never threatened her."  
\par \tab "Don't lie to me. We have proof." Sebastian informs Edward.  
\par \tab Edward asks,"What do you mean?"  
\par \tab Sebastian holds up the white envelope. "This is what I mean. "  
\par \tab "You've been reading my mail?" Edward accuses angrily.  
\par \tab Sebastian glares at Edward. "Like we would want to. It got delivered to us. Who is G?"  
\par \tab "No one." Edward replies not wanting to give it away, since he doesn't want his plans wrecked.   
\par \tab Sebastian throws a punch at Edward' face. "Who the hell is G?" he repeats.  
\par \tab "I'm not telling you." Edward states.  
\par \tab Sebastian pulls out the gun he had brought just in case they had a run in with Edward, or the stalker. "Kathryn didn't want to kill you then but she does now. Just like I do." He fires a warning shot.   
\par \tab "How could you shoot your own father?"Edward asks.  
\par \tab Kathryn had heard the shot. She runs inside the unlocked hotel room and asks,"What the hell is going on?" She sees the gun in Sebastian's hand. "Don't do it Sebastian. You can't."  
\par \tab "Yeah, listen to your little girlfriend, Sebastian." Edward then immitates Kathryn's voice. "Don't do it Sebastian."  
\par \tab A few officials and a mob of beefy security guys were brigading down the hallway - Sebastian could hear them. Kathryn was peering in the direction of the hallway as well.  
\par \tab "Tough luck," Edward says with a grin.  
\par \tab "No," Sebastian answers evenly. "This gun is yours. Licensed under your name. Techincally belongs to you." He shoves the gun into Edward\rquote s hands, just as the Plaza officials and security burst through the door, nearly knocking Kathryn over.  
  
\par \tab "Hey!" Kathryn exclaims, grabbing on to a chaise longue to steady herself.  
\par \tab "Thank God!" screams Sebastian, with such drama that even Kathryn is startled and confused. Pretending to be petrified - trembling, lip quivering - the whole deal - he throws himself towards a huge security guard.  
\par \tab Pointing an incriminating finger at Edward, Sebastian sputters, "H-h-e tried to *shoot* me! For God's sakes! He tried to *kill* me!" *Damn, I'm good at this* he thinks, very relieved at this last minute thinking.   
\par \tab "No!" Edward begins to protest, holding up his hands, but only revealing his gun. With his own fingerprints all over them. \tab "That slimy little bastard tried to kill *me*! You gotta believe me!"   
\par \tab Kathryn throws herself at a security guard, sobbing. "It's true!"   
\par \tab The security guard looks at her. "Ma'am? Pardon?" a solemn, silver-haired official asks.   
\par \tab Kathryn looks at Edward. "He tried to kill us. Both of us."   
\par \tab "Sir, put the gun down," a security guard says, and Edward immediatly drops it. "I'm afraid we're going to have to take you down to the police station for immediate questioning. This is a potential homocide."   
\par \tab Kathryn asks,"Can we stay here? I mean, he's been stalking me and threatening to kill me. If I could just stay here, with my boyfriend I could actually get a decent night's rest." She was trying to play up the innocent act as much as she could.  
  
\par \tab A security guard nods. "All right. We'll call you if we need anything."  
\par \tab Kathryn grabs tight hold of Sebastian as they leave. The whole event has truly scared her. "Maybe we should look around. Try to find anything else having to do with me."  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "Alright." He starts to look around as does Kathryn.   
\par \tab "Who is Jonathan Valmont? Do you know him?" Kathryn asks in reference to the i.d. card she had just picked up.  
\par \tab Sebastian knows  
who it is. "That's my uncle. He's a real psycho. He's jealous of my father because my father inherited the company." Sebastian just realizes something. "Oh my God. That must have been Jonathan who's been doing all of this. My father never would have done  
something like this."  
\par \tab "The police will probably find out when they see the fingerprints, so we don't have to go in or tell them until tomorrow right?" Kathryn asks. "I don't feel like going in. I mean look at me. I'm in my nightgown. And I don't feel like changing."  
  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "Okay." They walk out of the hotel and into the one they were staying at.  
\par \tab Abby had zonked back out again. Kathryn tells Sebastian,"I'm so glad to know who it is. At least it wasn't really your father. I would probably have run away or got my own apartment or something."  
\par \tab "You know I wouldn't want that. I'd miss you too much." Sebastian tells her with a mischievous smile. He walks to the bathroom where he gets changed into what he was going to wear to sleep. He comes out in boxers.   
\par \tab "My, my, my..."Kathryn starts. "Someone is looking good." She laughs as she says it.  
\par \tab Sebastian teases,"Maybe someone should show me how much they mean that..."  
\par \tab Kathryn starts to kiss him passionately and grabs him on to the bed with her. She kisses her way down his neck and chest and is under the blankets about to pull down his boxers and give him a b.j. when Abigail wakes up.  
\par \tab Abigail asks Sebastian,"What happened? Is everything alright? Where's Kathryn?"  
\par \tab Sebastian responds,"Everything is fine. They took Kathryn's stalker to the police station."  
\par \tab "Okay that's good. So where is Kathryn?" Abigail repeats.  
\par \tab "Why do you want to know?" Sebastian asks, and tries not to laugh.   
\par \tab Abigail stares at him, dumbfounded. "Um, because I have a right to know if my best friend is okay, you know. Did the cops take her with them to the station?" she answers indignantly.   
\par \tab "I...need some ice."   
\par \tab Abigail's incredulous stare still remains on Sebastian. "What?" she asks, as if that's the stupidest thing she'd ever heard in her life. "Answer my question, Sebastian! God."  
\par \tab "I need some ice."   
\par \tab Abigail rolls her eyes. "Where is Kathryn? And why the *hell* do you need ice, and what the *hell* does it have to do with anything?"  
\par \tab "The stalker punched me," Sebastian lies. "I need some ice," he repeated for the third time.  
\par \tab "Oh my God!" exclaims Abigail. "Are you okay? Oh my God!" Since the room is dark, she can't really tell if Sebastian is bruised or not.   
\par \tab "Just get me some ice, wouldya? And quite asking so many questions. It's not attractive for girls to ask so many questions," Sebastian answers. "And my jaw is numb...it hurts like a mothe--"   
\par \tab Abigail stands up, changing her clothes quickly. "I'll go down to the lobby and get you some ice. I'll be right back." She rushes out of the room.   
\par \tab "That was close," Kathryn remarks, who is still under the covers . "That girl should become a damned cop. She sure knows how to run a line of inquiries, huh? Bitch."   
\par \tab Sebastian and Kathryn laugh, feeling a bit lighthearted and in good cheer now knowing that the Jonathan - the evil uncle from hell - was now in police custody. "Now where were we..." Sebastian ravenously kisses Kathryn.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles into the kiss and proceeds to kiss him back. She says, in between kisses," Abby will be back soon. We don't have much time."  
\par \tab "We'll have to make the most of it, so shut up and keep doing what you were doing." Sebastian tells her with a smile.  
\par \tab She wraps her arms around Sebastian and continues to kiss him. She stradles herself on top of Sebastian. Sebastian starts to move the straps of her nightgown down, without a protest from Kathryn.   
\par \tab Kathryn presses herself down on top of Sebastian and slides her hands down his chest to under his boxers. She gig  
gles a little in pleasure as she kisses him. They were so absorbed in each other's presence they didn't notice Abby opening the door. However, they heard her footsteps into the room and Kathryn quickly rolled off the bed. "Damnit, Abby. You have to stop s  
neaking up on us." Kathryn gigglingly tells Abby from the ground, pulling her straps and nightgown up.  
\par \tab "Ummm...Kathryn, what are you doing on the ground?"Abby asks not knowing why Kathryn was giggling so much.  
\par \tab Kathryn just starts to giggle even more. "I fell off the bed."  
\par \tab "Are you drunk, Kathryn? Or high?" Abigail asks, concerned.  
\par \tab Kathryn giggles some more. "Neither. Well, I guess right now I'm high on life since the guy who's been stalking me is in police custody. Doesn't that just give you one big happ  
y? It does for me. " She gets off the floor and jumps happily onto the bed.   
\par \tab "That's good Kathryn. Why don't you go to sleep? It could possibly be a big day tomorrow." Abigail tells her.  
\par \tab "Alright. Sleeping sounds good, doesn't it Sebastian?" She yawns. "Wow, I'm really tired." She pulls the thick blankets over her and Sebastian. "Good night, Abby."   
\par \tab "Good night, Kathryn." Abby says as she turns off the light, and rolls over.   
\par \tab Sebastian smiles over at Kathryn. "What gave you so much energy?"  
\par \tab "You did." She tells him with a smile. She licks his lips.   
\par \tab Sebastian replies jokingly,"You are too much." He tiptoes his fingers down her nightgown,which Kathryn batts away.  
\par \tab "Stop." She then whispers,"If you do that, I may just lose control and then we'll wake Abby and then chaos will ensue. Later." She kisses him. "Goodnight."  
\par \tab ~~~The Next Day~~~  
\par \tab Abigail had woken up and saw Sebastian was awake, writing and drawing in his journal. She whispers,"Look, I need to get home so tell Kathryn that and I'll see her later, okay?"  
\par \tab Sebastian nods as Kathryn wakes up. She's not fully awake and sees Sebastian and kisses him full on the lips. "Good morning sweetie."   
\par \tab Abby gives Kathryn a strange look. "Why did you just kiss your stepbrother?"  
\par \tab "Court's not my stepbrother." Kathryn replies and then lays down on Sebastian's chest.  
\par \tab Abby forgets everything Kat had just done and says,"Bye Sebastian." She walks out the door.  
\par \tab Kathryn opens her eyes and looks up at Sebastian. "Whatcha drawing?"She looks down at the journal and sees a sketch forming. "Is that me?"  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "It's sleeping you. Who isn't so crazy." He teases her.  
\par \tab   
"I knew it was you. But I couldn't let Abby know that." She lets her hand walk down Sebastian's boxers and adds,"Besides, Court isn't this big." She winks at him. She takes Sebastian's journal and closes it without bothering to read it. She puts it over o  
n the nightstand. "Stop drawing. We're alone, in a locked hotel room, where no one else has a key. What do you think we should be doing? And it's not drawing me or writing."  
\par \tab "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry," Sebastian says, with a wry smile. "Sorry  
to disappoint you. But this guy's gotta eat." He pats his stomach, and then runs his fingers along Kathryn's own stomach. "You could use a few more pounds, too, you know."  
\par \tab Kathryn rolls her eyes, but smiles. "Ahhh. Fine. We'll go eat. Let me go change."  
She rolls out of bed and rummages through her suitcase for an outfit. She decides on a tight silk, beige Armani Xchange dress with a creme colored three-quarter sleeve sweater.   
\par \tab Sebastian gets dressed as well, in a sharp suit, and waits for Kathryn to finish. As she comes out, he whistles, teasingly. "Mmm. I want a piece of that for breakfast..."   
\par \tab Kathryn laughs, running her fingertips along the side of Sebastian's face. "Ooh, well, sorry, sir, you had your chance. I guess you're just going to have to settle for a nice...greasy...croissant." She grabs her purse.   
\par \tab Sebastian opens the door for her. "After you."   
\par \tab Kathryn smiles, and heads out of the hotel, only to crash into Court Reynolds. "Court!" Kathryn exclaims, sputtering a bit, surprised and frankly, quite annoyed to see him. "W-w-what are you doing here?"  
\par \tab "I came here to see you, of course," Court says, eyeing Sebastian critically, suspiciously almost. Taking her hands, he looks deeply into her eyes. "Abby told me you were staying here. Why didn't you tell me?"  
\par \tab "I..." Kathryn begins, searching desperately in her mind for an explanation.  
\par \tab "Hello, Sebastian," Court says coldly and briskly, obviously very annoyed and bewildered ot see Sebastian there.   
\par \tab "Hey there, fellah," Sebastian answers sarcastically.   
\par \tab "I see you two have stayed in the same hotel room," Court comments.   
\par \tab Kathryn starts to explain,"A lot has been going on. Sebastian was only at the hotel to protect me..."  
\par \tab "Why would he have to protect you?" Court asks, concerned.  
\par \tab "Because, I was being stalked. I didn't want to worry you. I mean, the more people who knew, the more people the guy would go after. I didn't want him going after you." Kathryn continues. "I was going to call you and tell you. Really."  
\par \tab Court then questions,"But why were you staying in the same hotel room as Sebastian? You didn't....you know?"  
\par \tab "No, of course not. See, Abby paid for the room and if we needed someone strong to protect us Sebastian would be right there. Sebastian slept on the couch all night. Abby and I  
got the two beds to ourselves." Kathryn informs him. "We were just on our way to breakfast. Do you want to come with us?"  
\par \tab Court nods. "Alright. But I don't see why you couldn't have told me."  
\par \tab "Well as I said earlier, I didn't want you getting hurt. Also, I know that your sister just had a baby and I didn't want to wreck that." Kathryn admits as they walk towards the restaurant.  
\par \tab "I wouldn't have minded. I would have stayed with you." Court tells her.  
\par \tab Lila sees the three in the restaurant. "HI! Court, I'm so glad you found Kathryn. I was worried about her."  
\par \tab "Hello Lila. How are you?"Kathryn asks with a fake smile.  
\par \tab "I'm alright."  
\par \tab Sebastian smiles as Lila approaches, knowing that Lila's arrival made Kathryn mad. "Hi Lila. How would you like to eat breakfast with us?"  
\par \tab "Ooooh, I'd love to. I already ate, but I would love to stay and chat with you guys."  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles. "Great."  
\par \tab They are seated and Kathryn looks at what she wants. "What are you going to get? Everything looks so good." Kathryn was thinki  
ng how much easier it would have been to just get room service. She couldn't help but keep thinking of last night with Sebastian.  
\par \tab "Penny for your thoughts." Court told Kathryn.  
\par \tab Kathryn almost laughed but controlled herself. She replied,"Umm...I'm trying to decide what to eat. I think I am just going to go with 2 pancakes."   
\par \tab Court nods. "Their pancakes here are good."  
\par \tab The waiter comes and asks,"What would you all like to drink?"  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles at the waiter, who she found attractive, "I'll take a coffee. Black."  
\par \tab "A small cup of hot chocolate." Lila found herself ordering, an order that made Kathryn want to laugh at.  
\par \tab Sebastian responds,"Black coffee."  
\par \tab Court doesn't order a drink.   
\par \tab The waiter tells them,"I'll be right back with your drinks. Would you like to order now?"  
\par \tab Kathryn replies,"I'll have two pancakes. Sebastian?"  
\par \tab Sebastian answers,"I'll have bacon and eggs."  
\par \tab "I'll be right back with your drinks and soon after with your orders."The waiter tells them.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles at the waiter and then turns her attention back to Court. "How's your sister?"  
\par \tab "She's good. She had a baby girl." Court responds.  
\par \tab "Awww, maybe later we could stop by and visit her." Kathryn suggests.  
\par \tab Court tells Kathryn,"She'd love that." He then asks,"So what was this that you were telling me about a stalker?"  
\par \tab Kathryn drums her fingernails on the table, in a steady rhythm, and shrugs. "Some...guy was just following me around. The cops got him though. I'm all right."  
\par \tab "That's a big deal," Court remarks, looking amazed. "I can't believe you didn't tell me." He abruptly grabs her hand, holding it affectionately.  
\par \tab Kathryn forces herself to smile. "I'm okay," she insists. "And that's all that matters, isn't it?"   
\par \tab "A stalker?" Lila asks. "Spooky."   
\par \tab "Yeah that's all that matters," Court agrees, although he doesn't look completely convinced. "So, uh, when's the big day for your mom?"  
\par \tab "In *two* days," Kathryn says, pretending to be excited.  
\par \tab "This coming Sunday," Sebastian adds, playing around with packs of sugar, mischievously, and rather childishly, dumping it in everyone's water while Lila looked on, giggling.  
\par \tab Just then, Court sips his water, and his face scrunches up, and he covers his mouth, cringing. "That water is foul. Don't drink it," he warns Kathryn.   
\par \tab Sebastian bursts out laughing, then just as quickly, calms himself. "Oh. Sorry." Court simply stares at him, looking peeved.   
\par \tab "Yes, this Sunday," Kathryn says quickly, not really wanting the two to start some huge argument there. "I'm excited. You'll be there, won't you?"  
\par \tab "I wouldn't miss it for the world," Court answers, "To see you all dressed up, your mom's maid of honor...that's nice..." \tab *Pussy* thinks Sebastian, rolling his eyes.   
\par \tab Lila smiles at Sebastian. "You're the best man, aren't you?" she asks him, linking her arm in his.   
\par \tab Sebastian smiles at her, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "I sure am." Their orders arrived, and they all began eating. \tab After they were done, Court stood up, and announced, "What should we do now?"  
\par \tab "Well, I need to run to by the house and see how my mom is. She probably just now is finding about what happened." Kathryn suggests.  
\par \tab Sebastian replies,"Well, I can do that. After all, I'm going to head over there."  
\par \tab Kathryn nods. "Alright."Kathryn gets up and suggests to Court,"Why don't we go visit your sister?"  
\par \tab "What a great idea." Court tells her. He takes her hand and helps her up.   
\par \tab Kathryn tells Sebastian,"Why don't you take Lila to her house? It would be out of the way for us."  
\par \tab Sebastian nods and helps Lila up. "Come on."He tells her with a smile. They walk to his car and Sebastian takes her home.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles at Court as they get into his car. They drive to the hospital, where they visit with Court's sister and brother-in-law for a couple of hours.  
\par \tab Sebastian, meanwhile, was at the Merteuil home. He went into his room, after telling Tiffany about Kathryn. He wondered when Kathryn would be home and was kicking himself for not ordering room-service that morn  
ing instead of going out to eat. *Oh well, there is always the time after our parents leave.* He hears the door open. He sees Kathryn walk by and when she sees his open door, peers in.   
\par \tab "Your father is on his way home. Are you going to come out?" Kathryn asks.  
\par \tab Sebastian nods. "Yeah." He gets up and walks out the door and starts to walk with Kathryn to the living room when Edward and Tiffany arrive.  
\par \tab Kathryn puts on her good girl act on. "Mr. Valmont, it's so good to see you again. Are you doing better?"  
\par \tab Edward nods. "How horrible was Jonathan?"  
\par \tab "Really bad, but he's getting locked up." Sebastian tells his father.  
\par \tab Edward nods, obviously thinking. "I think I know what he put you through....he told me everything...I thought he was just bragging."  
\par \tab Kathryn yawns. "Excuse me. It's been a long week. I'm going to go sleep so I'll be well rested for the wedding."  
\par \tab They all nod as Kathryn leaves. She had yawned from boredom of the situation. But that didn't need to be mentioned. She walks into Sebastian's room, un-noticed by all but Sebastian...  
\par \tab ~~~Cut to the Wedding Day~~~  
\par \tab Kathryn wakes up the day of the wedding. She is in Sebastian's arms. She smiles when she sees him asleep. She makes a move to get up, when Sebastian gently grabs her arm and pulls her on top of her. "Where do you think you are going?"  
\par \tab "Sebastian, the wedding is tonight. I have to go get ready. We have to be there at 4 p.m. and I still have to take a bath, get my hair, nails, and makeup done. Plus I have to help Tiffany pack." Kathryn inf  
orms Sebastian. "Today will be busy." She kisses him softly on the lips. "But tonight will be more exciting than the wedding itself. I guarantee it."  
\par \tab Sebastian grins. "What do you mean by that?"  
\par \tab "Something you have wanted ever since you first saw me, when I moved here in 8th grade, you are going to get."Kathryn tells him. She gets out of bed. "Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go start getting ready."  
\par \tab She walks into her room and starts to remove her nightclothes. She is down to wearing only her underwear when Sebastian walks in. She grabs her silver robe and quickly slips it on. "God, Sebastian...why can't you wait until tonight?"  
\par \tab "I'm not that patient." Sebastian replies.  
\par \tab Kathryn smiles weakly at him. "Well, the longer you wait, the better it is." Sh  
e walks into her bathroom leaving Sebastian and drops the robe. She steps into the bathtub and takes her bath. She puts her robe back on after drying off and has a towel wrapped around her head to dry her hair. She takes a peek through the hidden mirror d  
o  
or that she had to see what Sebastian was doing and found herself pleased by what she saw. He was taking a shower. She smiled to herself at the view and shut the door. She went to go get her hair done. Sebastian, out of the corner of his eye, had seen Kat  
h  
ryn peek in and smile. She obviously liked what she saw. Sebastian wondered if what she had said earlier was just an empty promise but hoped it wasn't. Kathryn gets her makeup done while her hair is up in hot-rollers. She walks in her mothers room to hel  
p her mother pack for the month long honeymoon.   
\par \tab Tiffany asks,"Is a month too long for us to be gone from you?"  
\par \tab "Not at all. We can take care of ourselves. Besides, after what Jonathan did I have Court and Abigail especially watching out for me. Plus, in  
two weeks I'll be going out of town with Court and his family. I'll have people watching out for me. So will Sebastian. He's become like a big brother to me which he is as of today. " Kathryn reassures her mother.  
\par \tab Tiffany smiles. "Okay, good. Now help me pack."  
\par \tab Kathryn nods and helps her mother finish what packing she had left. Kathryn then heads back to her room to get her hair fixed for the wedding and after that, slips into her dress. By the time Kathryn was ready it was time to head to the church.   
As they drive to the church Tiffany asks,"Now you remember what to do, right?"  
\par \tab "Of course we do mother. We don't want to mess up your big day. Right, Sebastian?"Kathryn asks her brother with a smile.  
\par \tab *Actually, if it got messed up I would be free to date Kathryn....*"Of course not, Tiffany." Sebastian tells Kathryn's mother.  
\par \tab They arrive at the church safely. Kathryn stands in the waiting area with Sebastian and asks,"Are you nervous?"   
\par \tab Sebastian glances at her. Well, it wasn't really a glance, he gazes at her much longer than a future stepbrother should. "No, it's just a stupid, traditional ceremony. Nothing to pee your pants about."   
\par \tab Kathryn chuckles a bit, surprisingly jittery and nervous.   
\par \tab Sebastian's eyes widen as the realization strikes him. "You're nervous! Aren't you?" He nudges her side playfully. "So you're human after all." He smiles at her.   
\par \tab "I don't know why," Kathryn admits. "I guess it's just...weird for me, that's all.   
To see my mother tie the knot. That's exactly why you should have children after marriage. So they don't have to witness this...it's too weird. And I *really* don't want to see her kiss your father." She pauses. "No offense."  
\par \tab "None taken," Sebastian answers, with a shrug. Sebastian peers out at the crowd beginning to gather into the pews. "Big crowd," he remarks.  
\par \tab "Bastard," Kathryn teases, slapping him playfully, "That's *real* comforting for me."  
\par \tab "Hey, hey, watch the boutineire," Sebastian jokes, straightening the flower in his tuxedo breast pocket. He glances at Kathryn, suddenly intense. "You look nice," he says, straight out of the blue.  
\par \tab Kathryn loved the fact that Sebastian was so abrupt, unlike Court, who was so 'perfect boyfriend' about everything. "Thanks, so do you," she answers. Just then, the wedding march begins to play. Kathryn inhales a shaky breath.  
\par \tab "You'll do fine," Sebastian assures her, and when no one is looking, he steals a long, deep kiss. When they finally pull away from each othe  
r, Sebastian grins at her, then begins down the aisle. Kathryn waits in the wings for her cue. "Here we go." She whispers to herself.  
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